Mumbai, May 10 (IANS): Former India coach Ravi Shastri has said that Ravindra Jadeja is not a natural captain, and looked completely clueless during his stint at the helm with Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2022. Shastri added that Dhoni should lead CSK next year too if he's fit and ready to play.

After a string of failures, Ravindra Jadeja had to relinquish C'K's captaincy to old guard M.S Dhoni who stepped down from the leadership role at the start of the season.

"Ravindra Jadeja is not a natural captain. He hasn't captained at any level. So, to give him the responsibility I thought was a little hard on him," Shastri said during ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time Out.

"People might want to judge Jaddu (Jadeja), but it's not his fault. He hasn't captained anywhere. He looked like a fish out of the water, totally out of place and he's far better off playing as a player. Because he's one of the best around in the business, when it comes to all-rounders," he added.

"So let him just focus on his cricket. That [decision to give him the captaincy] cost CSK a few games early on. If you see the form they're in now, if they had this going early on, they'll be right up there in the mix."

After registering four wins in 11 matches CSK are currently placed ninth and need to win all their three remaining games to stand a chance to force a playoff possibility.