Kolkata : Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar shed light on Ravindra Jadeja’s white ball career after rumours of his ODI career being over.
After a poor form in T20 WC and T20I retirement, Ravindra Jadeja’s ODI career was said to be over after India excluded him from ODI series against Sri Lanka.
However, selector Ajit Agarkar and Head Coach Gautam Gambhir have shut down all those rumours and said it’s all done keeping in mind the Test series and work load management. He’s still important for them in any format and in schemes for ODI Cricket. The exclusion also came after inclusion of Axar Patel, another left arm all rounder spinner in the Indian squad.
“I think it would have been pointless to take both him and Axar (Patel) for this short series. We know what Jaddu’s done. He’s had a terrific 50-over World Cup, so no, he wasn’t dropped at all. All options are open, but either of them wouldn’t have played all three games if we had taken both,” Agarkar stated.
“There’s a big Test season coming up where he’s likely to feature in a lot of the Tests, so I don’t think three games would have mattered. We probably should have clarified that (his absence) after the selection. He hasn’t been dropped. He’s still within the scheme of things and very important as a player,” Agarkar added.
Not only Agarkar, but Gautam Gambhir highlighted the importance of Ravindra Jadeja for the Indian team.
He said: “After the Sri Lanka tour, we’ve got a long break, a month-long break, and then we’ve got 10 Test matches. That’s not bad because playing continuously helps in Test matches, with the tour of Australia coming up as well. That’s what the challenge is all about, and that’s what I’m really excited about. Some of the players who missed out on the Sri Lanka tour, like Ravindra Jadeja, are very important for all those ten Test matches. I’m really looking forward to all the Test matches.”
