Veteran commentator Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Ravindra Jadeja has been relegated as India’s third spin-bowling option in the 2024 T20 World Cup as well. He added that Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel have surpassed Jadeja in the pecking order so far in the mega T20 event.
Sanjay Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo: “I think compared to Axar and Kuldeep Yadav, maybe Jadeja is a little limited in comparison. Axar Patel has those little subtleties, change of angle, pace and what he does. Jadeja is a very disciplined, accurate bowler who will feed off a good pitch, and a batter makes a mistake, he gets you out. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel have more to offer than Ravindra Jadeja. I think India made a commitment to Axar Patel as the first-choice left-arm spinner. So not only with performance that Jadeja has been relegated to number three, that is also about the captain who believes which is the better left-arm spinner for him.”
However, Ravindra Jadeja has claimed just one wicket from five innings at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Notably, he has the worst economy rate (7.80) for an Indian bowler in the ongoing marquee event as well. Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar also shared that Axar Patel will be high on confidence as well.
“They’ve gone to him before Jadeja, the more seasoned and the bigger name. After today’s game, his confidence will be right up there. He’ll regard this as one of his most important performances. Against the odds, small ground, Australian team where one left-hander was flying right through the innings, excellent economy rate and bowled really well.”
Sanjay Manjrekar also praised Australian opener Travis Head’s quickfire knock against India in the Super 8 match on Monday, June 24, where he scored 76 runs off 46 balls.
“This could be arguably the best innings of the tournament. I know Rohit Sharma has played a blinder. But some of the shots that he played, there was one shot off Kuldeep Yadav and he hit one over long-off with a flat bat. Just the difficulty of the shots and with the pressure and knowing that he was one batter who was in and lot hinged on him. The kind of shots he played, he looks a really special player. He’s a guy who’s played 160 first-class matches. Somewhere even in T20 cricket and 50-over cricket, you get to see that this is the guy who’s faced a lot of balls in his career. I just loved that innings and my respect for Travis Head while he was out there was growing,” he said.
“We saw Australia bowling Stoinis, despite showing that he’s not quite having a good time. Whereas, India have the luxury of going to another left-arm spinner. They gave Jadeja one over, realized that it was going to be too risky, didn’t go back to him. So, India have those options and Rohit Sharma is using those beautifully. Gave the 16th over to Arshdeep, the slightly easier over to come back into second spell,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.
