Ravindra Jadeja's struggles against off-spin continues

There is no denying that Ravindra Jadeja has been one of India’s best Test batters in the last few years, but his numbers against off-spinners have been quite poor. In Tests since 2023, the left-hander has gotten out to off-spinners on 13 occasions - the most for any batter.

Jadeja, on December 28 (Saturday), once again fell to Australian offie Nathan Lyon on day three of the fourth Test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 36-year-old was pinned right in front of the stumps after scoring 17. 

Lyon kept pushing him on the backfoot with those sliders, and Jadeja eventually missed one, getting hit on the pads right in front of the stumps. 

This is the seventh time Jadeja has been dismissed by Lyon, against whom he averages 29.71 in red-ball cricket. No other bowler has dismissed Jadeja more than Lyon in Test cricket. The second on the list is another off-spinner, Moeen Ali - five times.

In Tests since 2023, Jadeja has scored 291 runs @ 22.38 against offies. Against no other bowling type he has an average of less than 32 in this period. He has operated at 32.9 vs right-arm pacers, and if you take them out, his average goes up to almost 45 against his third-worst bowling type.

Jadeja, as a batter, has scored 2159 runs at an average of more than 40 since 2018. But even in this period, his worst average against a bowling type has been versus off-spinners (32.8), which troubled him yet again at the 'G.