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Does Ravindra Jadeja’s exit from Chennai Super Kings have anything to do with his captaincy ambitions? This claim has been made in a new report.
After 12 glorious years with CSK, where he won three IPL titles, including a dramatic chase of 10 runs on the last 2 balls of the final in 2023, Ravindra Jadeja was transferred to Rajasthan Royals ahead of the start of IPL 2026.
Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran and Sanju Samson trade
During the trade window ahead of IPL 2026, both CSK and RR made big calls regarding their respective personnel. Jadeja and Curran, both part of CSK in 2025, were transferred to RR in exchange for wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.
Samson was the full-time captain of RR from 2021, but was unable to play many matches in 2025 due to injury. Samson had demanded his exit from RR after IPL 2025. As part of the deal, Jadeja’s salary was also reduced by Rs. 18 crore to Rs. 14 crores.
Jadeja may have left CSK to become RR captain
A new report by Cricblogger claims that Jadeja left CSK for RR so that he can become the captain of the latter. While Samson was injured in 2025, Riyan Parag took over the captaincy of RR, but the inaugural champions finished ninth in the points table.
After Samson’s exit, the RR top leadership considered several names, including Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravindra Jadeja, before handing over the command to Parag.
It has been told in the report that Jadeja had talked to some of his colleagues about becoming the captain of Rajasthan Royals one day. When CSK management came to know about this, they decided to let him go.
Ravindra Jadeja started his career in RR in IPL 2008, and the then RR captain Shane Warne gave him the nickname ‘Rockstar’. RR and Jadeja won the IPL title that year.
MS Dhoni is reportedly unhappy with this decision
Although MS Dhoni is no longer officially the captain of CSK, there is no question about the fact that everyone in the team looks to him for inputs. But the same report of Cricblogger states that he was not happy with this trade. In fact, according to this report, he did not even have complete information about this step.
As it turns out, Jadeja’s track record as captain in the IPL is abysmal. He was appointed the captain of CSK after MS Dhoni vacated the position in 2022. Under his leadership, 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, with Jadeja playing a key role in the final.
The report mentions that there was basically no reason for Jadeja to leave CSK if he did not have captaincy aspirations. In the current tournament, Ravindra Jadeja has taken just 8 wickets in 11 matches, but as always, he has been economical.
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