Ravi Shastri never minces his words.
And he has given a scathing assessment of why CSK is struggling in IPL 2022.
Shastri is clear that CSK messed up their team selection and captaincy strategy.
According to Shastri, If MS Dhoni had been thinking of giving up the Chennai Super Kings captaincy, the franchise should not have released Faf du Plessis.
Instead, they should have passed on the captain armband to him.
That would have let Ravindra Jadeja play freely and things could have been different for Chennai.
Shastri has high regard for Faf.
He said, “Faf is a match-winner, he has won the IPL with Chennai, he has a lot of experience.”
Jadeja has little captaincy experience. Under him, CSK lost four matches in a row, leaving the four-time – and defending – IPL champions in an uphill battle to make the playoffs.
Last season, du Plessis had also played a key role with the bat for Super Kings in their run to the title in 2021.
He blasted 633 runs at 45.21, with a strike rate of 138.20 and six fifties in 16 innings.