Big Admirer Of Ravindra Jadeja: Sanjay Manjrekar Responds To A Fan On Twitter

Former India batsman, Sanjay Manjrekar has lavished praise for Ravindra Jadeja in the recent weeks after being highly critical of the all-rounder’s place for a year before that. Jadeja’s performances during the ongoing Australia tour has silenced Manjrekar and the rest of his detractors.

Recently, while replying to a fan on Twitter, Manjrekar lauded Jadeja for his exploits in Test cricket. After Jadeja’s important innings in the Boxing Day Test against Australia, a fan tagged Manjrekar by opining that Jadeja is India’s best all-rounder since Kapil Dev.

“Guess @sanjaymanjrekar wont agree or like. But @imjadeja is the best Indian allrounder with best record after Kapil Dev. And his batting in last few years has just got better. Well played Sir Jadeja,” a user wrote.

The former India batsman replied to the user by saying that he is a big admirer of the left-arm all-rounder in Test cricket, which Manjrekar believes his Jadeja’s stronger format compared to ODI and T20I.

“Big admirer of Jadeja, when it comes to Tests, have always been for years. Test cricket is his strong suit,” replied Manjrekar.

Things changed after 2015 with Ravindra Jadeja as a batsman: Sanjay Manjrekar

The 55-year-old pointed out that Ravichandran Ashwin was the preferred spinner – especially in overseas conditions – and Ashwin had the advantage of providing runs with the bat over Jadeja. However, in the last 4-5 years, the Saurashtra-born has made massive improvements in his batting.

In Test cricket, Jadeja’s batting average has improved each year since 2015. From 21.80 in 2015 to 37.50 in 2016 to 41.00 in 2017, and 45.60 in 2018. The southpaw averaged a terrific 62.85 in 2019 and including his 57 at MCG, he averages 41 in 2020.

The 32-year-old is amongst the elite all-rounders in the world; since 2016, he averages better with the ball and bat than Ben Stokes, Shakib Al Hasan, and Jason Holder in Test cricket.

“Things changed after 2015 with Ravindra Jadeja — the batsman. It was also the time when Ashwin was batting before him, Ashwin had four Test hundreds and Jadeja had nothing. Jadeja was competing with Ashwin as the spinner in the side. Ashwin’s batting dropped Jadeja’s batting sort of skyrocketed. This guy always had a great first-class record and finally, when he got his number, he felt ‘Wow, let me make most of it’,” Sanjay Manjrekar had told Sony Networks.

Big admirer of Jadeja, when it comes to Tests, have always been for years. Test cricket is his strong suit. https://t.co/BEMS77ylDU

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 27, 2020

Also Read: I Was Hurt By My Dismissal: Shubman Gill