Ex-India Spinner Lauds Ravindra Jadeja; Criticises Media For Selection Bias

The former Indian spin all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has praised his national teammate, Ravindra Jadeja, for his incredible all-round skills with both bat and ball. He highlighted how the southpaw hardly would get the deserving recognition.

Ashwin recently retired from international cricket after the third Gabba Test in the five-match series of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.

Ravindra Jadeja’s heroics in the Nagpur ODI

Jadeja has had an excellent time since the end of the five-match Test series down under. The left-arm spinner played in the two Ranji Trophy games for Saurashtra after the Border of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made it mandatory for players to turn up for domestic fixtures to be available for national selection.

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At the Niranjan Shah Stadium, Jadeja picked up 12 wickets during their encounter against Delhi. In their next game against Assam at the same venue, the veteran didn’t bowl a single over, as many speculated that he perhaps had grabbed a minor injury.

But the all-rounder displayed his incredible value with the ball on the slow surface of the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur during the first of the three-match ODI series against England. Going into the format, many raised their questions and doubted the spinner at this stage of his career.

India's left-arm spinner darted a quick delivery at England’s experienced batter, Joe Root, who was beaten for pace and was trapped right in front of the middle stump. The length was not short, but he was late to flick the delivery. The ball landed on the leather side and skidded off the surface to help Jadeja earn his first wicket of the afternoon.

Jacob Bethell was trying to play the sweep shot against Jadeja for a long time. The 36-year-old went with a ball that drifted away from the left-handed batter and straightened upon landing to hit the batter’s pads. A couple of overs later, he broke the stumps of Adil Rashid to finish with figures of 3/26 in his nine overs, including a maiden.

Ex-India spinners’ appreciation for Ravindra Jadeja

India’s former off-spinner has lauded Jadeja, calling him a ‘more gifted’ cricketer than the Tamil Nadu spinner, as he felt that the media never appreciated the Saurashtra spinner enough. The latter has picked up more than 600 international wickets in his career, along with more than 6000 runs.

Ashwin shed light on his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) teammate’s star quality, stating that the media chooses to showcase the same selectively only.

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“Our media fails to appreciate when a player does well. Whenever we lose, everyone becomes a villain. He dismissed Joe Root (in the 1st IND vs ENG ODI). Jadeja goes always under the radar. He is a “Jackpot Django". He is +10 in the field, also bowls well, and bats in pressure situations as well. We don’t give Jadeja enough credit.” Ashwin mentioned this in a video on his YouTube show.

Road ahead for Ravindra Jadeja

The left-arm spinner will turn up for the next two ODIs of the ongoing three-match series against England in Cuttack and Ahmedabad. Axar Patel, his competitor, also smashed a fine half-century at number five in Nagpur during their 249-run chase.

Jadeja will hope to carry the same form and momentum for India ahead of the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to begin on February 19. All of India’s games at the event will take place at the Dubai International Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Jadeja has enjoyed his time at that venue with both bat and ball in hand.