New Delhi: MS Dhoni surprised the fans by leaving the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) 2 days before the opening match of IPL 2022 (IPL 2022) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on 26 March, but He has not taken this decision suddenly. The decision he had taken on the evening of 15th August in 2020, this time he reversed it. In fact, on 15 August 2020, Dhoni suddenly announced his retirement from international cricket on social media. This time he adopted the method of Virat Kohli and planned a smooth change. CSK CEO Kashi Viswanathan told that Dhoni was already planning to step down as captain and he was waiting for the right time.
Speaking to Inside Sports, Viswanathan said that he announced his decision in the team meeting after practice, but he was already thinking about it. Dhoni thought that Ravindra Jadeja was ready to handle the feat and was in his best form to play the leadership role.
Know here the timeline of Dhoni leaving the captaincy
- A CSK source says that when Dhoni told the CEO about his decision, he was surprised. He said that he wanted to talk to N Srinivasan.
- Around 10 am, the CEO of the CSK team made a request at Srinivasan’s office in Mumbai.
- In the afternoon, Dhoni and Srinivasan spoke on the phone and Dhoni told him about his decision. Close people say that Srinivasan was also initially surprised, but at the end of the phone he understood it. The two talked on the phone for about 10 minutes.
- After talking on the phone, Dhoni told the entire team about his decision during the team meeting. In the meeting itself, the name of Jadeja was announced as the new captain of CSK.
- Virat Kohli had also informed his team about this before announcing his decision to step down as the captain of the Test team after the South Africa tour.