Jadeja and I wouldn’t be this lethal without the other: Ashwin

Since 2011, no player outside Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin have won a Player of the series award in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India. If in 2013, Ashwin picked up 29 wickets, Jadeja was at his best in 2017, where he ended with 25 wickets and 127 runs with the bat. In 2023, the duo were influential in India clinching another series win against Australia, their third in a row. 

The duo were named as the Players of the Series, and in the post-match presentation, Ashwin reckoned that Jadeja and he wouldn’t be this lethal without the help of one another. In fact, the off-spinner also insisted that there is a need to recognize that, and added that Jadeja gives him a lot of freedom to be creative with the ball. 

“It has been a great journey. We (himself and Jadeja) started a long time ago but we wouldn't be the same or lethal enough without the other. We need to recognize that, at least I have started recognizing that over the last 2-3 years,” Ashwin heaped praises on his bowling partner, Jadeja. 

In the second innings of the Delhi Test, it was Jadeja who put on a show picking up seven wickets, with the Australian batters being bamboozled by his bowling display. Ashwin reckoned that a huge part of India’s 2-1 series win can be pointed to the way Jadeja bowled in that particular innings. 

“He gives me a lot of freedom to be creative with the ball, credit to him, I thought he bowled beautifully in the Delhi Test as well and that's why we are here today. Jaddu keeps it really simple, he does not fret around or bother about what has happened,” he added.

However, there was one occasion according to Ashwin where Jadeja was left disappointed by his own display. That was on day four of the fourth Test, when he was dismissed after scoring just 28. 

“But I saw him sit in place for one hour after he got out, so that told me how disappointed he was and that came out today. The conversations have been a lot more in the last 2-3 years because I know how to communicate and what are his likes, his dislikes and even knowing what will help him.”

“Even he has adapted beautifully to the chop and change, during the series when Head was going, Khawaja was playing, we had a lot of good conversations and some of them ended up with wickets and some of them are quite funny.”

On the other hand, Jadeja was a man of little words, saying that it felt ‘good’ to bowl alongside Ashwin. The off-spinner from Chennai is well-known for the wealth of information that he possesses in world cricket, and that was something Jadeja benefitted massively from. 

“It feels good bowling with him. He is passing on information. What field to have, how to bowl to a particular batsman. I am happy with my batting in this series. I missed out on a few occasions. I will work harder and focus on my batting. He is more of everything. He has a good cricketing brain. He knows every team in the world,” Jadeja said.