Ravindra Jadeja’s former teammate Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on the veteran all-rounder’s performance after the first Test between Sri Lanka and India at Galle. However, India won comfortably by 165 runs. Ashwin added that Jadeja was not the same attacking bowler that he used to be. However, he also added that Jadeja’s current role, where he is more of an experienced batter down the order, was not bad either.
“Jadeja and Suthar are completely different bowlers. Suthar’s strength is the ball rotation in his hands. Jadeja will bowl to the wickets and give you control with his stock balls. I feel Jadeja is not that attacking spinner anymore. He is a batter who will give experience with the ball and I feel he has transitioned to that role, which is not such a bad thing,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.
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“Manav Suthar, in the previous Test and this one as well, is putting his hands up and saying he also knows how to pick wickets. He was gauging what the batters might do and bowling accordingly. I feel as far as wicket-taking is concerned, there is no connection to how the ball comes off the hand. How you utilise it and set fields, that’s what matters. He has given a great account of his skills in the first two Tests. He is very important to India’s spin bowling stocks,” he again added.
However, Ravichandran Ashwin also lauded the Indian team and all players who did well in the game. He added that India winning the toss and scoring 462 runs in the first innings put them ahead of the opponents as well. Notably, Devdutt Padikkal scored a magnificent hundred in the first innings, making 167 runs, while KL Rahul scored 82 runs as well. Young batter Dhruv Jurel also played a half-century (51). In the second innings, Rishabh Pant’s attacking 66 off 69 balls helped India a lot too.
“433 is the average first-innings score at Galle. When India won the toss and put 450-plus on the board, everyone knew at that moment that it was going to be difficult for Sri Lanka. But I feel Sri Lanka played very well and gave a good fight for a young side. Devdutt Padikkal was incredible. Dhruv Jurel played well. Rishabh Pant played a superb knock in the second innings. Standard batting from KL Rahul. Manav Suthar was the highlight, everyone is going to talk about him,” R Ashwin concluded.
