Most Indian batters are not in great form or possess faulty techniques, and their problems have been exacerbated against a quality Aussie bowling unit.
Cheteshwar Pujara has expressed his disappointment with India’s team selection for the third Test in Brisbane. When India announced their XI for the game, they confirmed two changes – Akash Deep and Ravindra Jadeja in and Harshit Rana and Ravichandran Ashwin out.
Pujara is not pleased with the omission of Ashwin, who bowled well in the previous Test, even if he didn’t get many wickets. On ESPNcricinfo, Pujara pointed out the availability of three left-hand batters in the Australian batting unit against whom Ashwin could have been handy.
“I know he has been chosen as a batter who can bowl a bit. But, in Australian conditions, when you know that the strong opposition batters are left-handers – Travis Head, Usman (Khawaja), and Alex Carey all are left-handers. So, you want your off-spinner to be there. Even if you look at the rough, it’s mainly for the right-handers, so off-spinners will come into play eventually, even in the second innings.”
Ravindra Jadeja couldn’t make a significant impact while bowling in the first innings as he went wicketless and conceded 95 runs in 23 overs at an economy rate of 4.10. He was the only wicketless bowler for India and couldn’t provide control from his end.
Bowling skill-wise, Ravichandran Ashwin is a better option and would have provided more control than Jadeja did in the first innings. In fact, Ashwin used craft brilliantly in Adelaide and bowled well despite having no real assistance from the deck.
However, as Pujara pointed out, India might have included Ravindra Jadeja due to his superior batting expertise. Jadeja has played numerous match-winning knocks at home and away with the willow in the last few years and will provide more depth to a shaky batting unit.
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Most Indian batters are not in great form or possess faulty techniques, and their problems have been exacerbated against a quality Aussie bowling unit. Hence, Jadeja can save India from a collapse.
Still, India would have expected more from him as a bowler. There’s another innings left, and Jadeja will come more into play as a bowler in the second dig.
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