"Ravindra Jadeja's name was 15th in the Champions Trophy squad" - Aakash Chopra

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has lauded allrounder Ravindra Jadeja for a superb performance with the ball during the first ODI between India and England at Nagpur. Chopra also congratulated Jadeja for equalling Kapil Dev's feat of 6000 runs and 600 wickets in international cricket.

Before this match, there were speculations that only one out of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel would play as India won't be able to make way for two left-arm spin bowling allrounders in the same Playing XI.

However, both of them played in this game which made the plans even more clear. While Jadeja was impressive with the ball, Axar was excellent with the bat in this match. Both of them played starring roles in India's win.

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Aakash Chopra hails Ravindra Jadeja's performance

While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra congratulated Ravindra Jadeja for equalling Kapil Dev's milestone. He praised Jadeja for making crucial breakthroughs in important periods of the game.

"Ravindra Jadeja has reached 6000 runs and 600 wickets in international cricket. First Indian spinner to reach that far. No one else has reached there. Kapil (Dev) paaji reached there but he was a fast bowler. He (Ravindra Jadeja) picked up three wickets in this match as well and they were big wickets," Chopra noted.

Ravindra Jadeja's wickets included Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, and Adil Rashid. He broke crucial partnerships and bowled impeccably well to tie down the England batters. With his performance, Jadeja has rested the claims of being dropped from the Playing XI for ODIs.

On Ravindra Jadeja & Axar Patel playing together

Aakash Chopra further spoke about the prospect of playing two left-arm spinners in the same Playing XI. He claimed that India is ready to play both Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja together under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma.

"There was a question whether he would play or not. I felt he would not play because his name was 15th in the Champions Trophy squad. We got to know a philosophy that two left-arm spinners can play together. It seemed this wouldn't happen in Rohit's captaincy, but that's been put to bed now," the former India opener said.

Chopra even felt that Jadeja bowled better than Axar Patel in this match. He feels that Jadeja has still got the penetration with the ball and he can still be a valuable player in the team.

"He has still got it if there is even slight help from the pitch. He bowled extremely well. If you do man-to-man marking, Jaddu was bowling better than Axar. So Jaddu becomes your bowling all-rounder and Axar becomes your batting all-rounder," he added.

The same combination as T20 World Cup 2024

Ravindra Jadeja finished with 3-26 in 9 overs and then scored an unbeaten 12 off 10 balls to steer India to a win. On the other hand, Axar Patel struck 52 off 47 balls with the bat and returned 1-38 with the ball in 7 overs.

India preferred the same combination of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in the same Playing XI in last year's T20 World Cup as well. The combination proved to be a successful one as India had plenty of bowling options for the tournament.