‘Mentally I was ready to lead; Dhoni bhai told me a few months ago for captaincy’- Ravindra Jadeja

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Under the leadership of a new skipper in Ravindra Jadeja, Chennai have made the worst possible start to their Indian T20 League 2022 campaign. They suffered a 6-wicket defeat at the hands of Kolkata in their opening match and it was followed by two more consecutive losses.

Chennai played their last match against Punjab on Sunday. Ravindra Jadeja won the toss and asked Punjab to bat first. They restricted Punjab to 170 runs in the first innings and with dew coming in the second innings, Chennai were expected to chase down the target pretty easily.

However, the Yellow Army were bundled out for just 126 runs in the second innings, thereby losing the game by 54 runs. With that defeat, Chennai have now lost all three games they have played so far. Ravindra Jadeja and Co. are yet to open their account in the tournament.

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The fans aren’t pretty happy with Yellow Army’s performance and the new captain has faced saved criticism for his underwhelming leadership skills. However, as far as Jadeja is concerned, he isn’t following any pressure as of now as he already knew a couple of months earlier that he would lead Chennai in the ongoing edition.

“I have been preparing since Dhoni bhai told me a few months ago for captaincy – mentally I was ready to lead and I don’t have pressure. Dhoni Bhai does give his inputs, we are lucky to have him,” said Jadeja at the post-match presentation.

“I am only following my instinct. I was preparing for that. Mentally, I was prepared to lead, I don’t have any pressure on me. I was looking to back my instincts; I was thinking to go with whatever thoughts come into my mind,” he added.

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With three losses in as many games, Chennai are currently languishing at second from the bottom of the points table. Ravindra Jadeja and Co. are slated to play their next match against Hyderabad on Saturday at DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai.