'Teams do not want Ravindra Jadeja to be playing in India's T20 World Cup side' - Graeme Swann

Bowler all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has come up in leaps and bounds over the past several months and is one of Virat Kohli’s major assets. In the World Cup last year, the left-arm cricketer had almost single-handedly took India to the finals when the chips were down.

His limited-over career came under the clouds even as recently as in 2018 but then it saw a complete change. In fact, Jadeja’s significance has grown so much that former England off-spinner Graeme Swann has gone on to say that every other team will breathe easy if Jadeja doesn’t feature in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

Since 2019, Jadeja has been the third-best bowler in terms of economy rate in the T20Is in terms of the economy rate (6.25). Only Afghanistan’s Mujib ur Rahman (5.66) and Pakistan’s Imad Wasim (5.81) have done well than Jadeja who has bowled 27 overs in nine matches to concede 169 runs.

Overall in the T20Is, Jadeja has taken 39 wickets in 49 matches at an economy rate of 7.10. The 31-year-old has also been a major player of the Indian Premier League where he has taken 108 wickets in 170 outings at an economy rate of 7.57 beside scoring almost 2,000 runs at a strike rate of 122-plus.

Graeme Swann, who took over 400 wickets for England across all three formats between 2000 and 2013, said there shouldn’t be any debate over Jadeja’s spot in India’s playing XI.

“Jadeja is a very important player for India”: Graeme Swann

“All the other teams in the world do not want Jadeja to be playing in that India team. He’s a very very important player. From an English point of view, we’d very happy (if he doesn’t play),” Swann said in cricket show on Star Sports.

According to Swann, Jadeja will prove to be effective in Australia’s big grounds during the T20 World Cup. “He’s doing well in New Zealand conditions on smaller grounds, in Australia, it’ll be the exact opposite, those are big grounds. If you as a spinner can bowl well on smaller grounds then you can do better on the big one,” the 40-year-old said.

Jadeja has bowled economically in the current series against the Black Caps though he has not got too many wickets (four in three games). He has got to bat in one game in which he has scored unbeaten 10 runs.

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