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Ravindra Jadeja has been a mainstay of the Indian cricket team for at least a decade now across formats, and there is no doubting the fact that he has played a part in many a famous win for India.
However, there are now legitimate doubts over his suitability for the shortest format of the game – despite the fact that he has retained his spot in the T20 World Cup side.
Jadeja’s recent poor run of form continued vs Pakistan, where he was dismissed without troubling the scorers and did not have a lot of impact with the ball.
But in recent years, Jadeja’s impact with the bat has more often than not been the issue. His bowling, particularly in favourable conditions, is still an asset. But his batting has not lived up to expectations.
This is especially true in T20 World Cups – Jadeja averages a measly 13.57 at a strike rate of 95.96 – hardly inspiring numbers by any means.
He did not make much of an impact in the IPL either; the 2024 edition saw him take a mere 8 wickets in 14 games although his batting stats were better – he scored 267 runs at an average of 142.78.
To make matters worse, Jadeja did not have much of an impact in the ICC ODI World Cup either – his only real memorable performance came in the opener vs Australia, and that too in spin-friendly conditions.
It doesn’t help matters that there are those ready to fill his position. Many would argue that Azar Patel has been a far more efficient all-rounder in recent times, and has definitely outshone Jadeja with the bat.
Axar has more often than not been a valuable understudy to Jadeja, but has improved in leaps and bounds in both departments and is also a reliable fielder.
A Washington Sundar also lurks in the wings should India want an off-spinning all-rounder, as is the norm in international cricket nowadays. Sundar has been on the fringes of the side more often than not but woul be a prized asset if he fires with both bat and ball.
And then there’s the matter of other all-round options. Should India want to bring in another pace-bowling all-rounder they also have options in Shivam Dube and Nitish Reddy, both of whom have impressed in the IPL.
Dube hasn’t bowled a lot in recent IPLs but has done so a lot in domestic and even international cricket. And while Reddy is still raw, there’s nothing to stop the BCCI from fast-tracking him as they did with Hardik Pandya.
There’s also the fact that India now has plenty of left-handers in the batting line-up, limiting Jadeja’s usefulness in that regard. And they can always play someone like Rinku Singh lower down the order to get in a pure batter if need be.
But as Jadeja gets older, the question of who comes after him becomes more pertinent. Yet many will argue that the all-rounder is already past his sell-by date – and with good reason.
