IND vs SL: Ravindra Jadeja Improves The Team Combination In All Formats: Ashish Nehra

Ravindra Jadeja is making a comeback to the Indian team after recovering from his injury. The southpaw has been named in the Indian T20I and Test squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. The series kicks off with the first T20I in Lucknow. After West Indies. The Rohit Sharma-led side is eyeing another clean sweep to maintain pole position in the ICC T20I rankings.

Ashish Nehra, talking to Cricbuzz, spoke about how valuable Ravindra Jadeja is as a player for India. He further said that his return improves the balance for India across formats.

The southpaw has featured in over 50 Tests and T20Is and over 150 ODIs for India. While he was always an accurate bowler, his batting has improved by leaps and bounds in the last two to three years.

Ravindra Jadeja Is No Longer A Number 7 Or 8 Batsmen In ODIs & T20Is: Asish Nehra

“Jadeja’s return is a plus, he always improves the team’s combination in all formats. In the last two or three years, the way he has improved his batting, he is no longer a No.7 or No.8 player and in ODIs and T20Is, he can bat at even No.6 if the conditions are good,” Nehra said on Cricbuzz.

India head into the series as firm favourites, however, Nehra expects Sri Lanka to come up with a much better performance against India. They are fresh from a 4-1 loss to Australia and the former Indian pacer expects the side to come up with an improved performance against India.

“One can hope that Sri Lanka will play well here considering they are fresh from a tour of Australia and give a better fight to India than West Indies did. The West Indies had a few moments for themselves in the ODIs and T20Is but they could never finish them. Sri Lanka also experienced something similar in Australia and they would want to get some change to that scoreline here,” said Nehra.

After the first T20I in Lucknow, both teams travel to Dharmasala for the next two T20Is (February 26, 27). India and Sri Lanka then play a two-Test match series in Mogali (4-8 March) and Bengaluru (12-16  March D/N).

Also Read: India vs Sri Lanka 2022: India’s Predicted Playing XI For First T20I