Ravindra Jadeja Deserves A Lot More Respect Than He Gets - Mohammad Kaif

Former India cricketer, Mohammad Kaif feels that Ravindra Jadeja is an underrated cricketer — and that he has often been under the radar despite playing international cricket for more than a decade.

Kaif’s comments came after Jadeja’s valiant knock of 44* off 23 balls in the first T20I against Australia on Friday. Jadeja has continued his rich vein of form from the IPL to the ODI series and now in the T20Is.

In the third ODI, the left-hander played a perfect second fiddle to Hardik Pandya with his 50-ball 66 and also took an important wicket of Aaron Finch as Australia fell 13 runs short of India’s total.

Jadeja, came into the national team in 2009 as a bowling all-rounder has levelled up his batting significantly in the last couple of years. Since 2019, he averages 42 in ODIs, and 58 in Tests. In the IPL, he had an average of 46 and batted with a strike rate of 171. First under MS Dhoni, and then Virat Kohli, Jadeja has been a regular feature in the Indian team in all three formats for about a decade.

Heaping praise on the Saurashtra all-rounder, Kaif opined that the CSK all-rounder had shown the value he adds to the team with the bat and ball. The 40-year-old believes that Jadeja deserves more respect than he gets and that India will miss his services in the next two T20Is.

As quoted by India Today, Kaif said, “For two successive games Ravindra Jadeja showed why he is of so much value to India in white-ball cricket as he provides much needed balance. Even after 11 years he continues to be grossly underrated and deserves a lot more respect than he gets. Feel India will miss him dearly.”

Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the last two T20Is

While batting during the first T20I, Jadeja was seen struggling with his hamstring. Also in the last over, he was hit by a bouncer from Mitchell Starc. Although the physio didn’t come out to attend him, later in the innings break, he was ruled out of the match due to a concussion.

Yuzvendra Chahal played the second half of the game as a concussion substitute for Jadeja. The leg-spinner picked three wickets derailing the Aussie batting and won the Man of the Match award.

The BCCI reported that the all-rounder had been ruled out from the remaining couple of T20Is due to a concussion. Shardul Thakur, who scalped three Australian wickets in the third ODI is named as his replacement.

Also Read: Virender Sehwag Reminds Australia Benefitting From The Concussion Substitute Rule; Says They Should Not Complain About Yuzvendra Chahal-Ravindra Jadeja Situation