[Watch]"Left arm around" - Ravindra Jadeja starts bowling at the NCA ahead of India's crucial Test series against Australia

Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has started bowling at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) ahead of the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which begins next month.

Jadeja took to his social media accounts to post a video of him bowling left-arm around the wicket. He captioned the video:

"Left arm around #priority✌️."

Left arm around #priority✌️ https://t.co/s0IWfiDU20

Ravindra Jadeja's fitness massive for India's chances

India must win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 by a margin of two or more wins if they want to secure their place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June later this year.

The hosts have been dealt a huge blow with Rishabh Pant's absence, who is out after sustaining a long-term injury in a car accident. Pant showed how crucial he is for the hosts with a stunning hundred in the one-off Test against England last year.

However, another player who scored a hundred in the same innings was Ravindra Jadeja and his importance has grown exponentially with Pant's absence. Not happy to contribute with just the bat, Jadeja has also been lethal with the ball, especially in home Tests.

The left-arm spinner won the Player of the Series award the last time Australia toured India for Tests. He will be one of the most important players for India if they want to replicate their efforts from 2017.

Jadeja will first need to prove his fitness as he is likely to play in the Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra from January 24.

India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

Note: Jadeja’s inclusion in the squad is subject to him being fully fit.