T20 World Cup 2024: Ravindra Jadeja overlooked as Indian selectors receive massive warning from former legends

Tom Moody and Irfan Pathan have lodged a warning to the Indian selectors that they cannot and should not count on Ravindra Jadeja as a number 7 batsman. 

Ravindra Jadeja, who is currently playing for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024, has not experienced a very good campaign so far, especially with the bat. Jadeja - the left-arm off-spinner has performed decently but the same can't be said about his batting for the reigning champions. 

Not only has Ravindra Jadeja been too slow with his batting approach but he has also been quite unreliable and a bit irresponsible as well.

The hero for CSK in the 2023 IPL finale against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi stadium has remained relatively quiet. His performances raised the eyebrows of Indian fans, who are going to see him play for team India at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. 

What did Tom Moody say about Ravindra Jadeja? 

While speaking to Star Sports in the build-up to the T20 World Cup later this June, Tom Moody had some eye-opening things to say about Ravindra Jadeja. Moody started by appreciating Jadeja and labeling him as the best left-arm finger spinner in India at the moment. 

Tom Moody further stated that if he was the Indian coach, then he would have included Ravindra Jadeja solely because of his 4 overs of left-arm off-spin. But when it comes to batting, the former Australia batter claimed that he would not want Jadeja to appear as a number 7 batter. 

Highlighting Ravindra Jadeja's performances in IPL 2024, Moody admitted that Jadeja is not good enough to arrive as a 5th down batter for India. The 2016 IPL winning head coach with SRH lastly stated that India will require someone like Shivam Dube or Rinku Singh, batters who are capable of causing an instant impact. 

"I'd be taking Jadeja purely because I'm looking for the best left-arm spinning option. He's the best left-arm spinner in the country. In my eleven, he's not batting at No.7."

"I don't think he's good enough to bat seven in a World Cup side. He's proven that with his strike rate. You need an impact-type player batting at seven." - Tom Moody said via Star Sports. 

Jadeja's underwhelming all-rounder performance in IPL 2024 

Thus far in IPL 2024 (from 9 matches) Ravindra Jadeja's performances have been extremely ordinary, both with the bat and ball.

Jadeja might be averaging 78.50 but his strike rate of 131.93 from mostly the top-order has been quite questionable. In total, he has scored 157 runs with only a half-century to his name.

With the ball, Jaddu has registered just 5 wickets at a decent economy rate of 7.55 with a best of 3/18 and conceding 234 runs on the way.  

Irfan Pathan also questions Jadeja for his strike rate 

Irfan Pathan, who was the man of the match during the 2007 T20 World Cup final in Johannesburg, also criticized Ravindra Jadeja for his strike rate.

Pathan claimed that while India's top-order looks good enough, the finisher's role should be given to someone else than Jadeja as his strike rate at the international level has not been so great.  

"My worry is with the T20 World Cup, we pretty much sorted as far as the top-order batting is concerned. We pretty much sorted in the middle overs as well. If we're thinking Ravindra Jadeja is a number seven batter, you need a good finisher. His numbers are not that great as far as the strike rate is concerned." - Irfan Pathan told Star Sports.