Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector of the Indian men’s team has clarified why Ravindra Jadeja was not picked for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka.
Ravindra Jadeja, who retired from T20Is following India’s win in the T20 World Cup, was not picked in the ODI series in Sri Lanka as Axar Patel edging him out. Both Axar and Jadeja are all-rounders who bowl left-arm finger-spin.
Jadeja had little role to play in India's triumph, facing 22 balls and bowling 14 overs across eight games. Axar, in contrast, got nine wickets and contributed with crucial knocks, including a significant 47 in the final.
Over the last two years, Jadeja averages 30.90 with the bat in ODIs and 28.19 with the ball, getting 31 scalps in 26 games. He was brilliant in the ODI World Cup last year, with 16 wickets and averaged 40 with the bat. His omission from the Sri Lanka tour hinted at India looking past him in the white-ball format, but Agarkar explained otherwise.
“Still in the scheme of things” - Agarkar on Jadeja
During the pre-series press conference ahead of the Sri Lanka tour, Agarkar said: “It would have been pointless to take both him and Axar for this short series. We know what Jaddu [Jadeja] has done. He had a terrific 50-over World Cup. No, not at all dropped, all options are open, but either of them wouldn’t have played all three games if we had taken both.
“There’s a big Test season coming up where he is likely to feature in a lot of Tests out of that, so, I don’t think three games would have mattered. Probably should have clarified that after the selection, he has not been dropped and is still in the scheme of things and very important.”
India will play 10 Test matches over the next six months, beginning with the home series against New Zealand and Bangladesh. It will be followed by their first five-match Test tour of Australia since 1991/92, from November. Jadeja, one of the all-time great all-rounders in Test cricket, will play a key role as India look to seal their spot in their third successive World Test Championship final.
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