Love him or hate him, but Sir Ravindra Jadeja remains a key cog of the Indian cricket team
Love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore him. Though he claimed just one wicket from three matches while conceding 185 runs from his quota of 30 overs, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja continues to be in Team India’s scheme of things. And there's good reason for that.
Jadeja's only bright moment with the ball in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against Australia was when he dismissed Australian captain Aaron Finch for 75 in Canberra. Apart from that he was quite ordinary, barely spinning the ball the way a left-armer should.
However, what has gone in favor of Ravindra Jadeja is the fact that he has a multitude of skills to bank on. And in this series, his batting and fielding truly came to the fore.
That in a nutshell is the biggest difference between Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. For the moment, Jadeja is firmly entrenched in the Indian limited overs team, while Ashwin is nowhere close to being a part of it - despite the fact that he had a good IPL 2020 with the white ball.
On paper, Ravichandran Ashwin is definitely a better bowling choice compared to Ravindra Jadeja. But in modern white ball cricket you are expected to contribute in more than one department, and that's where Ashwin suffers.
Ravindra Jadeja is going to be in the thick of things during the upcoming T20I series as well, mainly because of his batting and fielding abilities. There is also a theory that by sending Jadeja at No. 7, the Indian batting gains a great deal of depth in the shorter formats of the game.
As they lack the option of a sixth bowler, the Indian cricket team management is eagerly waiting for the moment when Hardik Pandya is ready to bowl his quota of overs. Until that happens, the team would have to make do with what they have. And what they have right now is Ravindra Jadeja.
The win over Australia in the last ODI has finally given the Ravindra Jadeja fans something to cheer. So get ready for more verbal volleys when Jadeja steps on to the field in the T20I series - even if he completely fails with the ball.