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Did Ravindra Jadeja's exit from the Chennai Super Kings have anything to do with his captaincy ambitions? A new report has claimed so.
After 12 glorious years with CSK, where he won three IPL titles, including dramatically chasing down 10 runs off the last 2 balls of the final in 2023, Ravindra Jadeja was traded away to the Rajasthan Royals before the start of IPL 2026.
The Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, and Sanju Samson trade
During the trade window before IPL 2026, both CSK and RR made huge calls about their respective personnel. Jadeja and Curran, both of whom were a part of CSK in 2025, were traded away to RR in exchange for wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.
Samson was RR's full-time captain since 2021, but had missed many matches in 2025 due to an injury. Samson had sought to exit from RR after IPL 2025. As part of the deal, Jadeja's salary was also reduced from Rs. 18 crore to Rs. 14 crore.
Jadeja may have left CSK to become RR captain
A new report by CricBlogger has claimed that Jadeja left CSK for RR so that he could become the latter's captain. While Samson was injured in 2025, Riyan Parag took on RR's captaincy, but the inaugural champions finished ninth on the points table.
After Samson's exit, many names were considered by RR's top leadership, including Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravindra Jadeja, before giving the armband to Parag.
The report has mentioned that Jadeja spoke to some of his associates about someday becoming the Rajasthan Royals' captain. When the CSK management learned of this, they decided to let him go.
Ravindra Jadeja started his career at RR in IPL 2008, and was nicknamed 'Rockstar' by RR's then-captain Shane Warne. RR and Jadeja won the IPL title that year.
MS Dhoni reportedly unhappy with the decision
Although MS Dhoni isn't officially CSK's captain anymore, there is no questioning the fact that everyone in the team turns to him for input. But the same report by CricBlogger mentions that he wasn't happy about this trade. In fact, according to this report, he was not even fully informed about this move.
As it turns out, Jadeja's prior record as captain in the IPL is extremely poor. In 2022, he was appointed CSK's captain after MS Dhoni vacated the spot. Under him, CSK won only two of their first eight matches in the tournament before he was unceremoniously sacked.
Dhoni came back to lead the team but could not prevent a ninth-place finish. In 2023, CSK won their fifth IPL under Dhoni's leadership with Jadeja playing a starring role in the final.
The report goes on to mention that there was basically no reason for Jadeja to leave CSK if not for the captaincy aspirations. In the ongoing tournament, Ravindra Jadeja has taken just 8 wickets in 11 matches, but has been his economical self as always.
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