India’s series defeat against New Zealand has raised many questions, with the primary one being: Has Ravindra Jadeja played his last ODI for India? The 37-year-old seasoned veteran had a series to forget as he failed to impress with both bat and ball. In the three matches, the left-arm spinner failed to take a single wicket, and New Zealand middle-order batters made merry, scoring runs against him at will. Even with the bat, Jadeja was far from his best, returning with a haul of just 43 runs, with his highest score being 27.
Jadeja was unable to tie one end up with the ball, and when batting, he failed to get going against the spinners, failing to rotate the strike and get big hits going. The calls are growing for the management to ditch Jadeja and bring Axar Patel on board.
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has also now issued a reality check for Jadeja, saying the road ahead is difficult for the all-rounder, who will soon be seen playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Ashwin, 39, said that Axar Patel is waiting in the wings, and hence it is paramount that Jadeja rediscovers his mojo.
“See, it is a very challenging time for Jadeja. We all know that Axar Patel is right back on his heels. The fact is that Jadeja has done well in ODIs; he is also playing the Test format. But it isn’t easy for Jadeja because it is more about his batting. There are talks emerging about his low strike rate against spinners. This is way too early on anybody’s cricket or future,” said Ashwin on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’.
“We have the T20 World Cup and the IPL after this. Remember that Jadeja will play the IPL. The performances there will lead to a decision. It is too early to make a decision on anybody,” he added.
Ashwin, who formed a formidable bowling partnership with Jadeja in Tests, said he will always be jealous of the latter’s abilities, but he finds it difficult to understand why Jadeja doesn’t experiment much and add new weapons to his arsenal with the ball.
“Jadeja’s strength sometimes turns into his weakness. I sometimes get jealous. The kind of ability he has skills in batting, bowling and fielding. But he doesn’t do one thing? He never goes out of his strengths. He has never really flirted with new things,” said Jadeja.
“He is a bona fide legend. He has nothing to lose, so I would like to see him experiment. I have seen him bowling carrom ball in the net practice, but he has never done so in a match. Would love to see him get a bit funky,” he added.
‘India were soft’
Ashwin, who retired from his international cricket in December 2024, said he is finding it hard to fathom the series loss against New Zealand. He put forward some hard facts, saying the Shubman Gill-led side were soft and that, of late, the team has been finding it difficult to come up with solutions under pressure.
After huffing and puffing to a win in the series opener, India lost the next two ODIs, conceding the series 2-1. Only Virat Kohli was the bright spot for the hosts as he returned with 240 runs, including one century and one fifty.
“It was a tough series; India were soft. Very surprising. India shouldn’t have lost this series, but they have because I think we were a bit soft. At this point in time, this team is not able to respond,” said Ashwin.
“The teams are coming in better prepared to face this Indian team. They are bowling better spin and playing spin better,” he added.
