Jadeja’s axing highlights team’s spin conundrum
MUMBAI: On Sunday, Jadeja was dropped from India’s squad for the remaining two ODIs against Australia. The all-rounder, who was called in from his muchneeded rest period, remained with the squad for the first three ODIs but didn’t play.
The lack of clarity over Test team’s nucleas Ravindra Jadeja’s role, especially in the limited-overs format, is going unnoticed as India are on a winning spree.
The 28-year-old, who was ‘rested’ before the ODIs, was called up when Axar Patel suffered a fracture in his finger. But now that Patel is set to return, Jadeja has been forced back into ‘rest’ mode.
NOT A MATCH-WINNER?
Jadeja’s accuracy makes him a potent weapon in Tests. Emerging from tag of a ‘support bowler’ to Ravichandran Ashwin, to beating the ace spinner in taking the most wickets against Australia during the Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year, Jadeja has sealed his spot in the Test side.
The team management is likely have a lot of headache in selecting either of the two against South Africa if they deide to play only one spinner there.
Jadeja was forced to sit out in the first three ODIs as the pair of Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav and leggie Yuzvendra Chahal took centre stage.
After showing promise in Sri Lanka, Yadav and Chahal have claimed 13 wickets between them in three matches against Australia and the visiting side’s batting frailties promise them more success. Kuldeep even registered a hat-trick.
The induction of specialised, and more importantly, successful leg-spinners in the team is perhaps the last straw for Jadeja as his skill-set as a bowler (leftarm spin) is suddenly not that important for India anymore.
Selectors use a common jargon, ‘you are in our plans’, when they drop a player. But seldom do they live up to their words. When Gautam Gambhir was shown the exit door the last time, he was made a similar promise. But India turned towards Abhinav Mukund for the Test series in Sri Lanka when there was a vacancy due to Murali Vijay’s injury.
While no such promise has been made to Jadeja, confusion prevails over India’s two ace spinners. Ashwin, who was also desribed as ‘resting’ by chief selector MSK Prasad, was playing County cricket in England. This makes us wonder if it is right for a player, who is excused from national duties to rest, to play in other tournaments.
SELECTORS USE A COMMON JARGON, ‘YOU ARE IN OUR PLANS’, WHEN THEY DROP A PLAYER. BUT SELDOM DO THEY KEEP THEIR WORD.