Ravindra Jadeja Should Play Like A Proper Batsman Regardless Of The Batting Position: Sitanshu Kotak

Sitanshu Kotak has said Ravindra Jadeja should forget his batting position and play like a proper batsman to get the best out of him.

Ravindra Jadeja has impressed with his batting since returning to the playing eleven in the first Test against England. After warming the bench throughout the South Africa tour and the first four Tests in England, Jadeja was finally given a chance to prove his worth in the fifth Test and he grabbed the opportunity with both the hands.

He took seven wickets in the game and scored 86 not out and 13 to show the team-management it was wrong to drop him.

He was then surprisingly called up for the Asia Cup where he impressed once again. Jadeja was not named in the squad initially but was later added to the squad as an injury replacement. And in his very first outing, he picked the Man of the Match award after picking up 4 wickets for just 29 against Bangladesh. He also played a couple of impressive knocks in pressure situations as India won the Asia Cup.

And he further pressed his case for a regular spot in the playing eleven with a stunning display against West Indies in the first Test. The allrounder scored his maiden Test ton to help India post a mammoth 649 for 9.

And his former Saurashtra teammate Sitanshu Kotak believes that Jadeja should treat himself as a proper batsman despite batting lower down the order.

“When you bat down the order for India, you do think differently. Then you tend to think that you’ll have to shepherd the tail. For Jadeja, the key is to forget where he’s batting. Rather, he should play like a proper batsman regardless of the slot he’s asked to bat in. I feel he has so much to contribute with the bat to the Indian team,” Kotak told Mirror.

“All his triple hundreds in domestic cricket were outstanding, achieved in quick time. In Ranji, on result-oriented wickets, not only does Jadeja contribute with the ball, he’s highly efficient with the bat, ever chipping in with an invaluable 50 or 70,” he added.

Jadeja has three triple-centuries in first-class cricket to his name.  It helped him join an illustrious club featuring Sir Don Bradman, Brian Lara, Michael Hussey, WG Grace, Bill Ponsford and Wally Hammond and Graeme Hick.

Sitanshu Kotak further revealed an incident to show how gritty Jadeja is.

Kotak revealed how Jadeja batted for his side in the Vijay Hazare Trophy game despite suffering a side strain while fielding.

“Since he’d a strain, he couldn’t execute the pull shot. Yet he could play the finesse of a batsman. It only shows the calibre he possesses,” Kotak said. “Then in the Vijay Hazare semi-final in February itself, he smashed 56 batting at No.5 against Andhra Pradesh that enabled us to qualify for the final. And there too he wasn’t fully fit.”

Jadeja, meanwhile, was recently named in the ODI squad for the series against West Indies. Another good outing will surely put him in contention for a World Cup spot.