I didn't expect Ravindra Jadeja to be in India's Champions Trophy squad: S Badrinath

Former India cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath said that he was surprised to see Ravindra Jadeja in India's provisional squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel are the three spin-bowling all-rounder picked in the side. Badrinath feels that Jadeja will struggle to find a place in the playing XI during the marquee event.

Jadeja hasn't played an ODI since the 50-over World Cup final in 2023 against Australia. He wasn't a part of the ODI series against Sri Lanka in August last year where most of the senior players participated. Axar and Sundar were preferred over him in the Island nation. However, the Saurashtra all-rounder has been called back ahead of the three-match ODI series against England and the subsequent ninth edition of the Champions Trophy.

"There are a few spots which are a little bit tricky. I am honestly surprised that Ravindra Jadeja is in the squad. I didn't expect him to be in the squad because there is very little space for him in the XI. So why would you actually take a player in the squad who might not feature in the actual playing XI? So that is a little bit tricky," said Badrinath on Star Sports.

Axar Patel-Ravindra Jadeja conundrum

Axar started his international career as an understudy of Jadeja. The Gujarat all-rounder brought similar skill sets to the table as Jadeja. While Axar's bowling was almost at par with the senior statesman, he had some catching up to do in the batting department. However, over the years, the 31-year-old has improved his batting considerably and chipped in with handy contributions for India at different positions in the batting order.

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Axar was a part of India's initial ODI World Cup 2023 squad. However, he got injured in the lead-up to the tournament. Jadeja fared well in the round-robin phase but went wicketless in the knockouts. Meanwhile, in the T20 World Cup last year, both all-rounders featured in the playing XI in all the matches. However, Axar outperformed the veteran in all aspects.

It will be interesting to see whether the Indian team management continues playing Axar and Jadeja together in the playing XI during the England series and the Champions Trophy.