Follow UsThe ongoing India-England series has seen the two greatest all-rounders of modern-day cricket go head-to-head with each other, and they’ve traded blows non-stop. After the first two Tests, it looked like Ravindra Jadeja had edged ahead, but Ben Stokes has come roaring back in the last two Tests.
In the ongoing fourth Test at Old Trafford, Stokes has just followed up a fifer with a century, becoming the first captain to achieve the feat in 42 years. In the biggest stage of all, he is establishing himself as the greatest all-rounder of this generation.
Still, there are a few Jadeja records Stokes will never be able to break. Let’s look at them.
One of the finest bowlers of this generation, Jadeja has 15-wicket hauls and 3 10-wicket hauls to his name. This is simply something Stokes will never be able to match or surpass, even if he becomes a specialist bowler tomorrow. Stokes only has five fifers and no 10-fors to his name in Test cricket. In fact, the five-wicket haul in this Old Trafford Test was Stokes’ first five-for in eight years.
Stokes, as it stands, has 229 Test wickets to his name, exactly 100 fewer than Jadeja’s tally of 329. Even if Stokes gets to 240 by the end of this series, he will need 60 more wickets to get to 300, let alone catch Jadeja.
Considering Stokes has taken about 18-20 wickets per year on average in his career, he will need at least three more years to get to 300 Test wickets. He will be 37 by then, and it’s unlikely that he’ll still be playing. Either way, there is no way Stokes is going past Jadeja’s wicket tally.
Ben Stokes might be a lot of things, but one thing he isn’t is a good batter in the subcontinent, particularly in India. He has played 14 Tests in India and averages just 27.66, with only five 50-plus scores in 28 innings.
Unlike Stokes, however, Jadeja has an outstanding record in England, with 989 runs at an average of 38.03 with 8 50-plus scores.
Jadeja can improve this record further across India’s next three innings, but Stokes will almost certainly not be able to better these figures, considering England won’t tour India until 2028 (at the earliest).