Rift between Chennai Super Kings and Ravindra Jadeja? CSK unfollows India cricketer on Instagram, say reports

Reports in social media also claim that the Saurashtra cricketer has been unfollowed by Chennai Super Kings on their Instagram handle, which further fanned the rumours of a possible rift between the two parties.

Earlier in the day, CSK took to its Twitter handle to announce that the left-arm spinner and left-handed batsman, Jadeja, suffered an injury during the reverse fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and therefore he’s been ruled out of the tournament.

“Ravindra Jadeja reported a bruised rib and was unavailable for Chennai Super Kings’ game against Delhi Capitals on Sunday. He was under observation and based on medical advice he has been ruled out for the rest of the IPL season,” an official CSK release stated.

Meanwhile, several reports on social media suggested that Jadeja had also unfollowed the franchise on Instagram. Jadeja has been a vital member of the franchise the side for the last 10 years and emerged as the most expensive player for the side for IPL 2022 when the franchise retained him for a whopping sum of Rs 16 crore.

However, CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan, when asked about Jadeja’s decision to unfollow the franchise, said he didn’t want to read too much into it. “I have no clue about all this stuff like Instagram and Twitter and so I won’t be able to tell you much about these things,” the CEO was quoted by media reports as saying.

CSK have had the worst of seasons this year as the Yellow Brigade, under the leadership of their newly appointed captain, Jadeja, suffered seven back-to-back defeats. The dismal performance in the first half of the tournament resulted in CSK being virtually out of the playoffs race.

The franchise later announced that Jadeja has decided to relinquish captaincy as the responsibility of leading the franchise was also affecting his individual performance. Jadeja looked like a mere shadow of himself in all the games he was leading the CSK as he had the big shoes of MS Dhoni, to fill.

Dhoni – who is the most successful captain of the franchise with four IPL titles and two Champions League T20 trophies under his belt – was later re-appointed as the skipper of the side. The team eventually started doing well after Dhoni took to the reigns of the franchise in the second phase of the tournament. Even Jadeja’s performance improved the left-arm spinner started picking up wickets and bowling economically.

Meanwhile, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who had been a part of the CSK franchise for three years, claimed he hopes the rumours of a rift between Jadeja and the franchise are not true.

“I just hope that the rumours of a possible fallout between (Ravindra) Jadeja and CSK are mere rumours. Jadeja has been a very important member of the CSK side. I have been a part of this franchise and I know for a fact that it is one of the teams that takes very good care of its players,” Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports on May 11.