Jaddu…

Ravindra Jadeja also fondly called as ‘Jaddu’, almost made the impossible possible by stroking a timely knock against New Zealand during the semi finals of the 2019 men’s cricket world cup.

I wondered how he would compare to Ravi Shastri or Manoj Prabhak or the likes. For a moment it came to my mind that there has been no one since Kapil Dev who has taken India to a win both with the ball and with the bat.

It is difficult to think that after Kapil Dev, who with the bat stroked a 175 (not out) against Zimbabwe, in a world cup match, and saved India’s batting effort and allowed the team to post a respectable score, which was then successfully defended by India for a winning cause. With the ball he is perhaps amongst the best of the three seam bowlers India has produced, along with Zaheer, Srinath. (P.S. some would argue that Bumrah should also be counted in this class.)

Imran Khan, Botham, Kapil, during their day, would challenge perhaps the class that was in Sobers. In our times the likes of Kallis, Shakib and possibly Flintoff have been the names that come to my mind when I think of ‘geniune all-rounders’. So where does Jadeja fit in and more importantly where should he bat in the batting order, a question that has always come back to me, time and time again. We all have seen that he is more than a decent spinner on dry slow tracks. In fact not so long ago, he was not just no.1 in the list of best all-rounders but also topped the charts and held on to the no.1 bowlers slot in test and ODI cricket. If ODI cricket is anything to go by, the emergence of Jadeja is all there for us to see. In all the innings that Jaddu has batted, he is yet to get dismissed in around 33 percent of those innings. This is 1 in every 3 innings, where ‘sir’ Jadeja has closed the innings. But coming in at no. 8 or at most no. 7 (after Dhoni), is he batting too late in the order. In ODIs he has an average of almost 30 (with eleven 50+ scores out of 100 odd innings). In test matches he scores at an average of 32, and has a similar record coming in mostly at no. 7 or 8.

It is interesting to see how seamlessly his international record has mirrored his first class record in terms of not just his batting averages and strike rates, but also his bowling averages and economy. The transition seems to be effortless, with very little difference that one can see between his first class record and his international record.

With an attractive average in first class cricket of 46+ with 10 centuries which includes three 300+ scores, is Jaddu a better batsman than what we have seen of him in international test cricket.

Could we have him come at number 4 or 5? In terms of the evidence his first class record does seem to suggest that he has more runs in him than what we are allowing him to express. Should he be given a push ahead and allowed to score big runs, that he has done in first class cricket?

India also has Ashwin and now, Hardik Pandya who are also contributing with the bat as well as the ball. But simply going by his batting records in first class test cricket, Jadeja appears to be a better test batsman than Ashwin or Pandya. The three, however, have similar records in terms of batting averages in internation test matches.

Ashwin, as some of us would know, has opened the batting for his home state, Tamil Nadu, in Ranji cricket. But does he fit the bill as an opening batsman amongst the crop of opening batsmen, possibly not. Also Ashwin only appears to be effective in tests but not so much in ODIs. In case of Jadeja, given the limited talent that we have at no.5 or 6 in test matches, and how each middle order batsman has fared so far, should we look at bringing him at no.5 or 6 as a proper batsman. Perhaps we can then see what he does with the time and the opportunity that he gets with the bat, in the middle order. Will he replicate the talent in batting, of having scored over 5000 runs, three 300+ scores… time and timely opportunity given to bat earlier in the batting order, will elaborate that. India will definitely not mind that.

Imagine, a player who is a leading spinner of the side, also comes in, in the middle order and scores ‘big’ hundreds. With Ashwin, Pandya and Pant to follow (if all three are selected), coming in at no. 5 will also allow Jadeja the time to build longer innings of sorts and, may allow India to play 5 genuine bowlers, on a regular basis.

With Dhoni now due to retire from all forms of cricket (rumoured), will the thought of bringing Jadeja higher up the batting order, make India’s middle order stronger? It may not be able to match the likes of Laxman, Ganguly and Dhoni, instantly, however, with opportunity and time, a solid lower middle order can be built in the long run.

Time will reveal.. however, given the all-rounders that we have seen in the past, where do you think Jadeja would rate as an all-rounder? I believe, Kapil Dev has probably been India’s best all-rounder of all times, without any trace of doubt, by a stretch from the rest.

Who would you rate as the next best all-rounder that India has had, after Kapil Dev?

Please leave your comments and thoughts below.