Opinion: Why Ravindra Jadeja should be preferred over Chahal by the Indian team
Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were India's first choice spinners for last few years and to their credit, they bowled really well in tandem. While Kuldeep Yadav's mystery element makes him the first choice spinner for India, Chahal's place in the Indian Team has been a source of debate in the last few months.
With the World Cup just around the corner, India is looking for an ideal combination for the marquee tournament and in doing so they are trying fringe players in last few tournaments. This experimental approach gave another opportunity to out of favor all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja during the Asia Cup.
Jadeja gave a very good account of himself during the tournament which India eventually won. In the past, Jadeja has been guilty of not putting a high price on his wicket and as a result, he did not justify the tag of all-rounder due to his poor batting. However, in the Asia Cup, he batted with a lot of responsibility which showed that his batting has improved lately.
If one combines the way he is batting in Test matches nowadays with his performance during the limited opportunities he has received in One-Day Internationals lately, then it is quite evident that he is putting a high price on his wicket.
Moreover, Jadeja is easily the best fielder in the Indian team and good fielders add a lot of value to a limited overs side. Run out of a well set Khawaja during the second ODI against Australia is a very good example of Jadeja's potential and value as a fielder.
Indian team is looking for a balanced squad for the World Cup and all-rounders play an important part in maintaining the balance of the squad. Chahal is proper tail-ender and an ordinary fielder which goes against him. Also, it has been observed that whenever batsmen attack Chahal he doesn't quite has an answer. He lacks variety which makes him vulnerable in the limited overs cricket and his performance during the last few series' has not been that great either.
Indian eam management is playing Jadeja ahead of Chahal in Australia to maintain the balance of the squad, which is a sign of things to come.
Looking at the way things stand at the moment it won't be surprising to see Jadeja getting the nod ahead of Chahal during the World Cup.