Five Players Who Can Replace Kedar Jadhav In Team India

Since the 2019 ODI World Cup, India had been performing reasonably well. They began the tour of New Zealand with an emphatic 5-0 series win over the hosts. However, in ODIs, Virat Kohli’s men got blanked 0-3 and since then, there have been a few players who have come under fire.

Of those players who failed to dazzle in New Zealand, Kedar Jadhav’s name stands out in bold. His performances have been mediocre and its high time that the Maharashtrian player gets dropped from the Indian team.

To do so, India will have to bring someone in to replace Jadhav, and that will be listed below, in this article.

Here are five players who are our top picks to replace Kedar Jadhav in the Team India:

5) Nitish Rana

Hailing from Delhi, youngster Nitish Rana has the potential to replace Kedar Jadhav in the Indian team. He has been a constant run-scorer for Delhi in the domestic circuit, whilst also being a handy player for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Just like Jadhav, Rana is an all-rounder who has experience of bowling in the IPL as well.

In the 50 List-A matches he has played so far, the 26-year-old has scored 1542 runs at a strike rate of 81.97, with an average of 37.60.

Meanwhile, he has scalped 31 wickets in his List-A career, at an economy of 4.52.

All the stats back the claim that Rana should be given an opportunity to replace Jadhav, and perhaps if the former has a good outing in the IPL 2020 selectors will give him a run in the national team.

4) Axar Patel

Another all-rounder who has ample experience at the top-level is Axar Patel. He plays for Gujarat in the domestic circuit and currently represents Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL.

The 26-year-old has previously played for the Indian team, which is why him replacing Jadhav makes sense.

He last played in the Indian colours in 2017 and has scored 181 runs for the national team in 20 ODIs.

The left-handed all-rounder has played 133 List-A matches, scoring 2036 runs at an average of 30. At the same time, he has picked up 169 wickets in across the List-A games he’s played, with an economy of 4.26.

Axar has the ability to bowl 10 overs, which will be a big boost for the Indian team if he replaces Jadhav at the international level.

3) Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya’s brother Hardik Pandya is already a regular feature within the team, so perhaps its high time that Team India allows the two brothers to do what they do best.

Having previously played for the national team in T20 games, Krunal has yet to make his debut in ODIs. He has been a consistent player for Baroda and Mumbai Indians (MI), while the left-handed all-rounder has been in a good touch off-late against New Zealand, playing for India A.

In his career, the 28-year-old has played 61 List-A matches, scoring 1595 runs at an average of 31.90.

In the same number of matches, Pandya also has 75 wickets, at an economy of 4.91. He can be a true-blue finisher for the Indian team and a wise replacement for Jadhav.

2) Washington Sundar

Having earned a reputation of being a destructive batsman in the domestic circuit, Sundar has so far, failed to replace his domestic performances in the national team.

He made his ODI debut in 2017 but has since failed to nail down a place for himself in the playing XI.

The 20-year-old has been a consistent presence in the Indian T20 team but has all the ingredients to take over from Jadhav in the 50-overs format as well.

In his List-A career of 39 matches, Sundar has amassed 24 wickets, besides scoring 427 runs at an average of 20. 33. He has the backing of skipper Virat Kohli and will be given ample opportunities to shine for the Indian team.

1) Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav has been a regular performer for Mumbai in the domestic circuit. He has the ability to finish games on his own and can hit shots across the whole ground. He played well for India A in the recent ODI series versus New Zealand A.

The 29-year-old has played 82 List-A games so far, scoring 2447 runs with a strike rate of 99.63 and an average of 35.46. Suryakumar has the ability to play big shots but can play the role of anchoring the innings very well.

The right-handed batsman has been ever-present for his team Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL and has all the experience required to usurp Jadhav in the Indian team, and make that berth his own.