Stage is set for Ravindra Jadeja to find T20I vindication

The year was 2009 when Ravindra Jadeja played his first T20 World Cup. The spin-bowling all-rounder was just 20 when he received a lot of flak for his 35-ball 25 in the Super 8 encounter against England. However, his bowling was quite up to the mark in that tournament. 

Fast forward 15 years, it’s time for the 2024 T20 World Cup. The left-arm spinner is still doing decent with the ball, but his batting is something that everyone is still worried about going into the 20-over showpiece event in the USA and the West Indies.

Jadeja has never done well with the bat in the T20 World Cup. The left-handed batter has featured in five editions, scoring just 95 runs at an average of 15.83 and a terrible strike rate of 96.9. The only reason why he has been a regular member of India’s T20I set-up is because of his all-round abilities. 

The problem is not that Jadeja can’t score runs, it’s the rate at which he scores them. The left-handed batter is one of India’s designated finishers in the 2024 T20 World Cup but if you look at his recent batting numbers, especially in the death overs, you would be surprised how he has been trusted with that responsibility. 

In the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), Jadeja scored 267 runs across 11 innings at an average of 44.5 and a strike rate of 142.8. Those are decent numbers, but they don’t tell the real story. The 35-year-old faced more than 10 deliveries in seven innings and only twice did he have a strike rate of more than 150.

Jadeja also had the fourth-worst strike rate (167.9) in the death overs among batters who got at least 100 runs in that phase. In fact, this is not a new problem. Among batters who have faced at least 200 deliveries in this phase since IPL 2022, Jadeja’s strike rate of 155 is the worst. He also has the worst balls/boundary (5.7) in this period.

You can’t even promote him higher up the order, largely because of his inability to hit spin. This season, Jadeja batted at No.4 on three occasions for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and operated at a strike rate of just 119. His SR of 126.88 in the middle phase (7-15) was also among the worst in the competition. 

Now, let’s look at what he did against spin. Jadeja averaged 28 and had a strike rate of 121.74 against spin in IPL 2024, compared to 105.5 and 149.65 respectively against pace. In the last three seasons of IPL, the left-hander has operated at just 110 against spin. As a result, India can’t afford to have him wasting deliveries in the middle phase. 

What’s worse, Jadeja got 17 full tosses and could only hit three of them for fours. There were 11 batters who got 15 or more full tosses in IPL 2024 and Jadeja’s SR of 141.2 was clearly the worst. He also had a strike rate of just 126.88 in his first 10 deliveries, which is unacceptable for a finisher whose job is to get going from the word go. 

With Hardik Pandya also not in great form, India could struggle with the bat in the last five overs unless at least one of the top-five batters hangs around till the end. There is Axar Patel in the squad but even he didn’t have a great IPL 2024 with the bat. Just in terms of numbers, Jadeja shouldn’t be in India’s top seven. 

“I'd be taking Jadeja purely because I'm looking for the best left-arm spinning option. He's the best left-arm spinner in the country. In my XI, he's not batting at No.7. I don't think he's good enough to bat seven in a World Cup side. He's proven that with his strike rate. You need an impact-type player batting at seven,” former Australian cricketer Tom Moody told Star Sports.

For some reason, the Men in Blue always find a way to form their top five with batters who can’t bowl and then have four bowlers who can’t bat. Hence, India have no other option but to trust Pandya and Jadeja at Nos. 6 and 7. The only way this can be avoided is if they play one of Shivam Dube or Axar and push Jadeja to 8. They will then need at least eight overs from Dube/Axar, Pandya and Jadeja.

Let’s talk about Jadeja’s bowling. In IPL since 2018, only once has Jadeja leaked runs at an economy of more than 8. Howbeit, he is not someone who takes a lot of wickets. In IPL 2024, Jadeja scalped only eight wickets in 14 innings at an average of 46.1, the second-worst among spinners with at least 30 overs bowled. But his economy of 7.9 was the fourth best.

Now, Axar picked up a couple more wickets but had a tough time against left-handed batters. While he went at 10.5 runs against such batters, Jadeja was a lot more economical (8.3). His ability to keep firing deliveries outside off makes him a better option than Axar against left-handed batters. 

Jadeja also has an impressive economy of 7.1 in T20Is and has some experience of playing in the USA and the West Indies. If he can hold one end tight, it will make things easier for wicket-takers like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. 

Everyone knows what you are going to get from Jadeja the bowler but Jadeja the batter is unpredictable. One thing about Jadeja is he finds a way to be out there in the middle during crunch situations. Sometimes he pulls off a miracle, sometimes he ends up leaving everyone frustrated, and India will hope it’s the former, if and when a situation arises in the T20 World Cup.

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