Ravindra Jadeja recently rued the absence of his contemporary and fellow all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin after the IND vs WI 1st Test. Jadeja, who won the Player of the Match award for his heroics with both bat and ball, where he scored an unbeaten 104* and then took a four-wicket haul, revealed that he misses Ashwin bowling from the other end and operating in tandem with the veteran spinner.
Notably, Ashwin had announced his retirement last year midway during the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Addressing Jadeja’s recent comments, Ashwin said that the left-hander should not realistically miss him since his presence would imply he would get fewer wickets.
Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel, “If I was playing, I would have taken 2-3 wickets from the ones he took, so he should not be missing me. Jitna faida hai utna lena chahiye (He should capitalise on whatever there is). He is becoming a bona fide legend of Test cricket, I am really happy for him.”
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The star all-rounder, who has retired from T20Is but is still active in Tests and ODIs, was recently dropped from the 50-over squad for the upcoming white-ball series in Australia from October 19. Naturally, this raised questions over his future with the 2027 ODI World Cup lined up.
While chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that Jadeja was rested and is still very much in the plans for the ICC event, Ashwin contrarily suggested that the clock has ticked over for Jaddu.
Irrespective, it is hard to ignore the fact that Jadeja’s place in the squad isn’t exactly guaranteed with the BCCI backing the likes of Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav as spin options and Ashwin claimed that it was a clear indication that India were looking at the future.
Ashwin added, “They have dropped Ravindra Jadeja. It is a clear direction that they are not looking at him for the next 50-over World Cup.”
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