Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was on Wednesday ruled out of the remainder of the IPL 2022 season due to a rib injury. CSK informed about the development through an official release. Jadeja himself has not made any statements about his injury on his social media accounts. Since then there have been a lot of speculations about a possible 'rift' between the franchise and the all-rounder. Reports have surfaced in the media that apparently CSK's Instagram handle has unfollowed Ravindra Jadeja and this has fuelled the rumour mills. In such a scenario there is a strong buzz within the cricket circles that Jadeja is ikely to be released by CSK ahead of the 2023 mini IPL auction. If at all Jadeja is released ahead of next year's auction a number of teams are likely to bid for the Saurashtra all-rounder. Teams like Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrises Hyderabad who struggled to get a proper No.7 all-rounder at the mega auction is sure to break the bank for Jaddu.
The all-rounder was the most expensive player for CSK in IPL 2022 after being retained for Rs 16 crore. He was also appointed as the skipper of the team, just a couple of days before the beginning of the tournament. However, CSK lost six games in their eight outings under his captaincy. Jadeja even lost his form and managed to score only 111 runs and took three wickets in these matches. According to media reports, a few of Jadeja’s fellow teammates, on the condition of anonymity, hinted at a possible discord at the Chennai camp. According to them, the all-rounder wasn’t too pleased with the way the captaincy transition was handled. Those in the know say that the 33-year-old felt the process lacked 'transparency.CSK's CEO Kasi Viswanathan, downplayed the captaincy issues in CSK camp and shed light on Jadeja's future with the team. He said, “What I can tell you is that from the management side, there has been no problem and whatever is there on social media, I’m not aware of. Jadeja firmly remains in the CSK’s scheme of things for the future, always."
One of the most successful franchise of the IPL, Chennai Super Kings believe more on loyalty than player performance. A primary example being Suresh Raina. Raina, who was released by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the IPL auction, went unsold in the two-day event in Bengaluru. Raina was a part of CSK since the tournament's inaugural edition, barring two seasons (2016 and 2017) when the franchise was banned from taking part in the cash-rich league. He had led the now defunct Gujarat Lions for two seasons. After skipping the 2020 edition due to personal reasons, Suresh Raina endured a difficult outing in IPL 2021, and missed the latter stages of the tournament due to a knee injury. Speaking on Raina getting unsold in the auction, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull listed "two to three" reasons that prompted CSK, as well as the other franchises, to ignore the veteran batter at the auction. "There are two to three parts to it. He lost his loyalty in the UAE, we don't need to go on (and talk about) why it was. There's enough speculation about that. He lost the loyalty of the team and he lost the loyalty of MS Dhoni. Once you do that, you're very unlikely to be welcomed back," Doull said during an interaction on Cricbuzz. Many former cricketer's like Michael Vaughan and Akash Chopra have already hinted that Jaddu has already played his last game in yellow jersey.
