MS Dhoni and I spoke about relinquishing captaincy during last season: Stephen Fleming

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming says MS Dhoni spoke to him about giving up captaincy during last season. However, the timing to actually relinquish captaincy was Dhoni's call.

Ravindra Jadeja was named captain of the franchise but did not start off well as CSK succumbed to a six-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 opener.

"We have talked about it. It is something MS talked about with me during last season. The timing was though his call," Fleming said at the virtual post-match press conference after the IPL opener.

While announcing the new captain, CSK in a statement had said that Dhoni will represent the franchise for "season and beyond." Dhoni led CSK to four IPL titles and finished runners-up in five seasons.

Fleming also acknowledged that the transition from Dhoni to Jadeja has gone on nicely.

"It has been documented widely to give Jadeja a clean slate going in the series (IPL). It was communicated to (Mr. Srinivasan) through the team," the former Kiwi captain said.

"So, we have 100 percent spoken about that. It has been a bit of transition here, it has been a little bit of change but went through nicely."

CSK will look to bounce back in their next game against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Thursday (March 31) at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.