Ravindra Jadeja is dropped from Team India’s ODI squad against Sri Lanka. Is it a tactical move or Team Management wants him only for the Tests?
A few important names were missing when India’s squad for the Sri Lanka tour was announced. Ravindra Jadeja was not part of the ODI squad. The exclusion led to speculations whether Jadeja has opted out or he has been dropped considering his poor returns with the bat and ball in the winning 2024 World T20 campaign. For the record, Jadeja retired from T20Is post the successful campaign.
Not long ago, Jadeja was integral to India’s limited-overs cricket as his all-round skills were more than handy. He picked up wickets in the middle-overs, contained the opposition and struck lusty blows with the bat at the death. But since the 2023 World Cup final loss, Jadeja’s utility has diminished.
Since then, he has not played a single ODI and has scored just 58 runs at an average of less than 12 in 8 T20I innings, picking just three wickets. In IPL 2024, he came up with decent batting figures scoring 267 runs at an average of 44.50 with one fifty, but his struggle to force the pace was apparent. His bowling was below-par as he managed just eight wickets compared to 20 scalps in the previous season.
He was relegated to being the third spinner in the 2024 World T20 and batted as low as No. 8 or even lower. In the 2024 World T20, he managed just one wicket in 14 overs. He didn’t complete his quota of four overs even once. With the bat, he scored just 35 runs at an average of 11.67 in five innings.
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Decoding the Jadeja’s snub
It is possible that India, under new coach Gautam Gambhir, would be testing a few exciting all-rounders to get a few backups for Jadeja. The ever-improving Axar Patel has always been in the fray. But Washington Sundar has been getting more chances, as he can bowl and bat at all positions and in all situations. He can act as a floater with the bat and he can bowl in the powerplay, middle and even death overs. As India are not playing many ODIs ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy, the new thinktank is probably contemplating testing the bench strength before going after the tried and tested Jadeja.
Ravindra Jadeja in ODIs
Over the years, Ravindra Jadeja has been a key figure to India’s ODI cricket. He flourished under the leadership of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and then Rohit Sharma. He played all the matches in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where he scored 120 runs at a decent average of 40 and took 16 wickets, including a five-wicket haul, in 11 games. He formed a lethal spin combo with Kuldeep Yadav during the World Cup. In 197 ODIs, Jadeja played the all-rounder’s role with effective returns, scoring 2756 runs at an average of 32.42 with 13 fifties, scalping 220 wickets.
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Testing six months for Jadeja
Over the past six months, Jadeja’s diminishing returns with bat and ball has been overshadowed by the emergence of all-rounder Axar Patel. In the 2024 World T20 final, Axar was promoted ahead of Jadeja, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube to provide momentum to the innings, and he did the job brilliantly. His bowling throughout the World T20 was top-notch. He took wickets in the powerplay and provided the team with breakthroughs at crucial stages. He was brilliant in both middle and death overs.
The rise of Axar and emerging talented all-rounders such as Sundar has probably shut the door for Jadeja in ODIs. However, Jadeja can go back to domestic cricket and start performing in white-ball cricket to earn his spot back in the ODIs.
Jadeja: India’s warhorse for Tests
There is another possibility that Jadeja is being saved for the tough Test season ahead where India will play five Tests at home. He can pair up with R Ashwin to get India closer to the World Test Championship final. India will also play five Tests against Australia Down Under. In overseas conditions, India have always gone with one spin all-rounder and Jadeja has always edged Ashwin in that race. With 10 Tests to play in next six months, Jadeja is probably being kept fresh for the tough battles ahead.
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