Big of Jadeja to admit, ‘captaincy is out of my league’. The male ego doesn’t allow you to say it: Graeme Swann

Graeme Swann has hailed Ravindra Jadeja for his decision to step down as CSK captain and give it back to MS Dhoni for the remainder of IPL 2022. Prior to the start of the season, Dhoni had decided to hand over CSK’s captaincy to Jadeja, but following a string of defeats, ‘Thala’ Dhoni was back in charge. Swann feels that Jadeja has taken such a bold call makes him worthy of applause as he feels it is not easy for a cricketer to admit that he is not comfortably with a job as demanding and full of responsibility as captaining a side.

“We all have our favourite teams to play against and the fact that he has done well against RCB in the past is pretty important. It is such a big thing for Jadeja to admit that ‘look, captaincy is out of my league. I am not comfortable with it. The male ego doesn’t allow you to say it comfortably. So, the fact that he has done that and allowed MS to get back in is better for him, CSK and it is good news all around and honestly, I love him. I think he is brilliant. What he gives to any franchise is incredible. CSK would be half the side without him,” Swann said on Star Sports ahead of the start of the CSK vs RCB IPL match in Pune on Wednesday.

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Under Jadeja, CSK lost five matches from six matches and the all-rounder’s form himself was under scrutiny as he had scored 227 runs from eight matches and taken just five wickets. Former India coach Ravi Shastri agreed with Swann and feels that since Jadeja has not relinquished CSK’s captaincy, expect him to be back to his brilliant best.

“Good on him to go up and tell straight up that I can’t handle it. It’s something I am not used to. He has not captained at any level whatsoever. So it’s good. I think we will see a different cricketer. He can do what he wants, that responsibility of being captain is gone and all three departments can come out full force. Also, as a fielder, without having to worry who is going to bowl next, he will be devastating. Because he can turn games with run-outs. We have seen that time and time again. He is infectious with the way he covers that stretch on the field. He is like a bullet on the field.