India vs England, 1st Test: Zaheer Khan declares, ‘Ravindra Jadeja’s superior ability with bat helped him clinch the spot ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin’
India vs England, 1st Test: Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion in the first Test ahead of star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin raised many eyebrows but the left-hander proved his worth with a pivotal half-century in the first innings. Jadeja came into the crease while India were still trailing, and put on a partnership with KL Rahul to take India into the lead before completing a well-compiled half-century. The 32-year-old’s half-century was the base on which India built their 95-run lead, justifying his selection in the playing XI.
While speaking on Cricbuzz Chatter, Zaheer Khan said, “Whenever we are talking about Ravindra Jadeja, his numbers in recent times tell us a clear story. There were some question marks when Jadeja made it the playing XI for this Test ahead of Ashwin as the lone spinner. His superior ability with the bat helped him clinch the spot. So far in the game, we have not seen much spin bowling from England, and India also used Jadeja for just three overs in the first innings. In this sense, we can say that Jadeja has done his job well until now.”
India vs England, 1st Test: In conversation with Tanay Tiwari on Cribuzz Chatter, Zaheer Khan believes Jadeja was selected ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin due to his batting ability which was on display during the first Test at Nottingham. The former India pacer went as far as suggesting that Jadeja’s ability to get runs in tricky situations made him one of the finest all-rounders in the world currently.
Zaheer Khan said, “It is not like Ravindra Jadeja has played just 10-15 Tests. He is playing his 53rd Test, which is a substantial sample size. If a player has played more than 50 matches and maintains such decent batting and bowling averages after scoring more than 2000 test runs, he should be in the discussion when speaking about top all-rounders. It is not like he scored all his runs in Indian conditions and struggled in overseas conditions. He has had the best average among all the Indians in overseas Tests since 2018. These are the qualities of an elite all-rounder.”
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India vs England, 1st Test: While Ravindra Jadeja has hardly had a go at the batsmen bowling just three overs, Zaheer Khan believes that the left-arm spinner could come into the game on the final two days of the test. Zaheer believes that the pitch could provide some assistance after three days of action and Jadeja could make life difficult for the English batsmen.
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