Kedar Jadhav could have been given a few more overs by Virat Kohli: Harbhajan Singh

Kedar Jadhav is quite often regarded as the man with the golden arm. Besides his on-field batting exploits, he weaves the magic with the ball. The productive all-rounder has all the tools and ingredients to upset the opposition batsmen especially in crunch situations of the game. Kedar himself earlier said that he reads batsman’s mind very well and this is how he has been able to turn the game in India’s favour.

However, in recent times, Kedar Jadhav has been overlooked by the Indian selectors. He is not considered a regular feature in the Indian cricket team despite averaging a pretty decent 42 plus in 69 games. The most under-utilized cricketer who had picked up a hamstring injury in the past has bowled only 24 overs in his previous 13 ODI matches. The statistics reveal the whole story that Kedar Jadhav has bowled even less than two overs each game.

To make things worse, he hasn’t got even a single wicket to his name. He was also not asked to bowl in four of these matches. Kedar Jadhav who was picked for India’s home ODI series against West Indies chipped in with a modest 40 off 35 balls during Sunday’s encounter against the West Indies at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

It is cognizance of the fact that the Chennai pitch has traditionally been low and slow which makes it tough for the batsmen who look to play big strokes, thereby giving spinners an edge over them. Shockingly, Kedar Jadhav wasn’t allowed to bowl more than one over where he conceded 11 runs in his only over he bowled.

Kedar Jadhav is most effective when the wicket is slow and low: Harbhajan Singh

Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh said that Kedar Jadhav should be given more overs to bowl. “Kedar is most effective when the wicket is low and slow. I believe that he could have been given a few more overs by the captain. I am not saying Kedar doesn’t fit into the team but he has to bowl more,” Harbhajan said as quoted by India Today.

“It is because purely as no 6 batsman, when I look around I see a few options like Manish Pandey or Sanju Samson. Even Rishabh (Pant) at times won’t be a bad no 6 batsman. I feel rather than young Shivam Dube, Kedar could have been given a few more overs. Had your lead bowler given away 11 in his first over, you would have given him another over. Also, I feel for Dube but if he gets as many chances as Hardik, he will also improve,” Harbhajan signed off.

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