Ravindra Jadeja as an opener in Tests can work wonders for Indian team
The Indian team lost a hard-fought match at Edgbaston against England by 31 runs. While it was an extremely close match, the Indian team will know that they have lost out on an opportunity to become the first Asian team to defeat England at Edgbaston and also to start the series on a winning note.
However, the biggest worry for the Indian team in overseas conditions for the last few years is the lack of application by the middle order batsmen and the opening pair. In the past, whenever India won cricket matches in overseas conditions, the middle order and the opening batsmen contributed significantly to the team's total. This is lacking in the present team, and except for Virat Kohli, none of them have been able to capitalize on their starts.
India are missing a hard-hitting batsman at the top who can make the new ball old by hitting boundaries rather than allowing it to travel to the wicketkeeper by leaving them. Since the retirement of Virender Sehwag, India have been in constant search of a batsman at the top who can play an impactful innings.
In this present lineup, there is one player who can do that job for the team and that is Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja has not been a part of the playing eleven in an overseas tour for a long time and would be yearning to make his mark again. Looking at the England pitches which assist the pacers more, and considering the fact that Ashwin is the experienced and more senior spinner in the team, Jadeja has been unable to make his way into the team as a bowler. So, maybe Kohli should show his confidence in Jadeja and ask him to open the innings and also ask him to play like he would in a T20 or a One Day game, exactly how Sehwag used to successfully in the past.
Having said that, Virat should also assure Jadeja of his place in the team and allow him to play freely without the pressure of getting dropped. He has to realize that all great batsmen who have opened the batting for India have, by and large, played in the middle order for their respective states, including the great Sachin Tendulkar in his initial years.
Virat, being the captain of the team, needs to take a leaf out of the books of the previous captains Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, who played a pivotal role in the resurgence of Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma respectively by making them bat at the top. If Jadeja opens the batting, Virat will also have the luxury of a left-arm spinner, in these English conditions.
Now, it is up to the team management to decide at whose cost they would like to make this move. Lest we forget, Jadeja has got 2 triple 100s at the domestic level and he is an exceptional fielder too.