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Ravindra Jadeja
There are teams where it becomes tough for seniors to accept their exclusion from the playing XI at the expense of a junior player but if there are elder statesmen like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, it is not a hard ask, feels India's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. Both Jadeja and Ashwin, who have a cumulative wickets tally of 855, were dropped from the playing XI in the opening Test against Australia at Perth, with Washington Sundar, on the basis of current form and batting ability on bouncy tracks, getting the nod. It's not that both were supposed to play but normally Jadeja, because of his batting abilities, has been a sure-shot starter in overseas Test matches. "It's only tough when you have seniors who don't understand it. But when you have seniors like Jaddu and Ash who understand what the team is trying to do, it becomes very easy, because the team first policy is something that Rohit and Gauti bhai believe in," Nayar, a former Mumbai Ranji stalwart, told reporter
Ravindra Jadeja is happy with another five-wicket haul in Test cricket but conceded that in sultry conditions on a slow turner, bowling indeed was hardwork. Jadeja's 14th five-wicket haul came after a brief period of lull as he looked menacing while mixing deliveries, pitching it on good length spots and letting the variable bounce and abrasive surface work in his favour. However Jadeja's assessment of the track was also an indicator that possibly Ravichandran Ashwin has lost a bit of pace in his deliveries as it required more shoulder effort to get the zip off the surface. "I thought you need to mix and match (in terms of speed). The wicket has bounce but off the surface, the ball isn't taking off. Unless you put in a lot of shoulders and get the revs, it is difficult," Jadeja told Jio Cinema. "It was a special effort as it wasn't no easy to bowl in this heat. Even Washy (Washington Sundar) bowled well and everyone played their roles to perfection. Now our batters will need to ...