Former India selector MSK Prasad has recently said that India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is one of the key players of the Indian team and his inclusion in the playing eleven for the WTC Final was important. His comments came as he has some top all-round skills. While speaking exclusively with Sportskeeda, he shared his thoughts and backed Jadeja as he felt Jadeja’s inclusion filled up a spot for a specialist Test batsman as well.

“Jadeja is no less than anyone with the bat. If you see his Test record of late, he has been very good with the bat. Plus, he would have been an added advantage with the ball and also on the field. Had Hardik Pandya been around, then there would not have been any second thoughts. But since he is not there, we wanted one more all-rounder and we only had a spinning all-rounder,” he said.

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MSK Prasad  also revealed the reason why his inclusion was important even as a specialist spinner as the game was a five-day one and the pitch would have helped him as well. However, India will now play a five-match Test series against England in August as well.

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“There was a reason why Jadeja was played. The reason was that, if in case it would have been a full game, there would have been a lot of footmarks, they [NZ] had many left-handers in their side, which he could have fancied his chances against. If you really look at it, there was some spin on offer which helped even Ashwin. Also, considering the kind of form that Jadeja is in, that was the best possible XI we could have put up. The first day got washed but it still was a five-day game with the extension of one more day. So had it been a five-day game, Jadeja would definitely have come in handy,” MSK Prasad concluded.