3 reasons why the India are justified in playing Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal

The India-Australia ODI series has grabbed everyone’s eyeballs as the major talking point of the series was about the host’s bowling attack. For over a year now, India’s spin unit has comprised of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. While they have delivered goods on a regular basis, Jadeja was backed ahead of Chahal for the majority of the series, right before the World Cup. Some might get the opinion that the Indian think-tank is going on a bit more defensive side by favouring experience over performance.

No doubt, Jadeja delivered in the series barring one match in which he was hammered to all part of the ground, Chahal flopped in the only opportunity he got.  Everybody seems to be perplexed about Jadeja’s role in the team and whether the Indian team management is justified in playing Jadeja ahead of Chahal. While this may seem absurd to quite a few, Jadeja is one of the key players for India, heading into the World Cup. In our opinion, Jadeja needs to be ahead of Chahal in the line. Let’s have a look at 3 reasons why.

Jadeja the bowler is still effective

The most annoying habit of the critics is that one bad performance from a player is enough to set them wild and free, and needless to say they go on blabbering some unnecessary details which aren’t even relative. Back in 2016-17 when Ashwin and Jadeja faced the axe from the limited-overs squad, many touted their ODI and T20I career to be over owing to their ‘lack of bowling variations’.

A part of it is true for Ashwin but when it comes to Jadeja, the bowler in him is still effective. Jadeja is a sharp bowler who is quick through the air and his overs just run by, giving the batsman little or no time to think. His lines and lengths are a bit on the fuller side outside the off-stump which makes it difficult for the batsman to get those much-needed singles in the middle overs.

No doubt, every player has his off-day every now and then, and Jadeja is no different but on his day, he can run through any batting line-up in the world and that’s what brings me to the most basic point and that is, Jadeja the bowler is not finished. In 150 ODI’s, the 30-year-old has 172 wickets to his name at an average and an economy of 36.05 and 4.89 respectively.

Chahal, on the other hand, employs a bit too much flight and while it also can get you wickets, it’s filled with the added risk of getting hit for runs. Moreover, Chahal is not even half as experienced as Jadeja is and experience plays a major role when playing in a World Cup game. Chahal has 71 wickets to his credit from 40 ODIs at an economy and an average of 4.8 and 23.83 respectively.

The major fact to be highlighted here is the number of matches played and it plays a major role in determining the experience that a player carries into the mega-event.