Ravindra Jadeja Shouldn't Be Guaranteed Of His Spot Only Because He's The Vice Captain- Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra has dropped a bombshell on Ravindra Jadeja stating his competition with Axar Patel for a place in India’s T20I side. Chopra reckons that Ravindra Jadeja needs to contribute with the bat to retain his spot in the squad. The Men in Blue will face the Proteas in the final T20I of the three-match series in Johannesburg. Ravindra Jadeja scored a 14-ball 19 and went wicketless with a figure of 0/28 in 2.5 overs in the five-wicket loss against the hosts via the DLS method in the second T20I.

Previewing the third T20I on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that the vice-captain’s tag in the ongoing series might not help Jadeja in holding his position. He explained, “I will want Rinku Singh to score runs once again. Jitesh (Sharma) and Ravindra Jadeja should score runs. Jaddu needs to score runs because there is going to be a toss-up between Jaddu and Axar Patel, and it’s not that Axar is too far behind because he (Jadeja) is the vice-captain.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator added, “Vice-captain does not have any value these days because Shreyas Iyer was the vice-captain. Before that, Ajinkya Rahane was the vice-captain in Tests. The selectors straightaway drop players these days. I don’t know how they do that.”

Aakash Chopra Reckons Vice Captains Are Not Important Anymore

Shreyas Iyer was named India’s vice-captain for the final two T20Is of the recently concluded five-match series against Australia. However, he was benched for the last game against South Africa. Ajinkya Rahane was the second-in-charge to Rohit Sharma in the two Tests against the West Indies but has not found a place in the squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against the Proteas.

Aakash Chopra previously raised questions about the Indian Selectors for playing Tilak Varma instead of Shreyas Iyer in the second T20I. Iyer scored a fifty in the last T20I game he played but was still dropped from India’s playing XI against South Africa. Ravindra Jadeja will have to show his contributions with the bat and ball to keep his place in the squad.

India will face South Africa in Johannesburg on Thursday for the final T20I of the series. The Men In Blue will hope to level the series by winning the match.