Former India player turned veteran commentator Sanjay Manjrekar added that Ravindra Jadeja needs to practice a little more against spin after his dismissal in India’s first innings of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test as well. He also stated that Jadeja looked comfortable against the pacers but was found wanting against Nathan Lyon as well. Jadeja scored 17 runs off 51 deliveries as India ended Day 3 (Saturday, December 28) of the Boxing Day Test against Australia at 358/9 as well.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Manjrekar said, “He played the fast bowlers a lot and played them very well. He didn’t make even a slight mistake against the fast bowlers. However, once Nathan Lyon came, he was expecting off-spin, that the ball would turn. His bat came for the off-spin and the ball was not turning at all. So he played with that mindset.”
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“It seems like Jadeja needs to practice a little more against spin because he is looking absolutely comfortable against seam. He used to play very well against spin earlier but it happens that when you play overseas, you start playing fast bowling well and your focus is slightly removed from spin. If only fast bowlers had been there, Jadeja would have played a big knock,” Manjrekar further added.
In the same discussion, Deep Dasgupta added that Ravindra Jadeja could not read Nathan Lyon throughout his innings.
“I felt he was playing for turn from the start but Nathan Lyon read the conditions very well, that there wasn’t that much turn there. Nathan Lyon will get two things here – one is bounce and the second is drift. You should see from where he released the ball and where it finished. He released it from wide of the crease, the pitching was just outside the off-stump, and it pitched and came in. From Nathan Lyon’s first ball, when Jadeja was defending, it was hitting the inside edge of the bat. It tells you that Jadeja’s thinking was opposite to what Nathan Lyon was doing, and that is why Nathan Lyon trapped him,” Dasgupta concluded.
