Ravindra Jadeja Indirectly Fires Shots At Virat Kohli For His Mishandling

Ravindra Jadeja indirectly fires shot at Virat Kohli [Source: AFP]

Ravindra Jadeja has indirectly opened up about the struggles he faced during the early stages of his India career, with his comments also reflecting how his batting position affected his confidence. Although he did not directly name Virat Kohli, his comments have drawn attention to the period when Kohli was India's Test captain.

Notably, Jadeja made his Test debut under MS Dhoni in 2012 against England. However, since then, his batting position has changed several times. While he mostly batted at no 4 or 5 during his early domestic career, he was often pushed down the order after making his way into the Indian team.

Ravindra Jadeja Reveals His Batting Struggles

Speaking to Sanjay Manjrekar on Sony Sports, Ravindra Jadeja revealed how batting lower down the order affected his confidence. He explained that he had always believed in his batting ability after producing strong numbers in domestic cricket.

Jadeja said that he had a first-class batting average of more than 60 when he started his career. However, he often found himself batting at no 8 or even no 9 for India.

"Whatever Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy first-class cricket I have played domestically, my batting average is more than 60. So, somewhere, I had that belief that I had that ability. But sometimes what happens is that you come into the Indian team and you don't get that batting number. And sometimes the situation is such that I have batted at number eight and nine as well," Jadeja said. 

According to Jadeja, seeing a fast bowler preparing to bat while he was waiting with his pads on made him question the team's confidence in his batting. As a result, his morale and confidence were affected.

"Sometimes you think to yourself, 'I have to go and score runs.' And in that same dressing room, a fast bowler is selecting the ball, thinking, 'Come on, now bowling is coming.' So, because of all those things, my confidence was literally disturbed. 

I would think, 'Oh man, what is this? The team doesn't even have confidence in me.' I saw that in my early days, that I didn't get that number. Very low, and many times I even went in to bat below Ashwin. So, somewhere, all those things disturbed me. But luckily, now I have got the opportunity to bat at number six," he added.

How Virat Kohli’s Captaincy Affected Ravindra Jadeja’s Batting Role

It is important to note that Jadeja's comments have gained attention as a number of his lower-order appearances came during Virat Kohli's captaincy. The all-rounder has batted 32 times at no 8 and 12 times at no 9 in Test cricket.

One notable instance came during India's Test series against New Zealand in 2014. Jadeja batted at no 9 after Ashwin was promoted to no 7, while Wriddhiman Saha came in at no 8.

Jadeja first batted at No. 9 for India during the same series when Ishant Sharma came in as a nightwatchman. Therefore, his comments have brought attention back to how his role was managed during the early part of his Test career.

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Was Ravindra Jadeja Under-Utilised?

There is a strong argument that Jadeja could have been trusted higher up the order much earlier. In first-class cricket, he has scored 8337 runs in 220 innings, showing his ability with the bat.

For India, however, he has played only one Test innings at no 4, scoring 40 runs. At no 6, he has scored 1074 runs in 29 innings, while he has made 1578 runs in 32 innings at no 7.

Over time, Jadeja has proved that he can handle pressure and understand the demands of a Test match. Moreover, his batting has developed significantly, making him one of India's most dependable all-rounders. Therefore, while Jadeja's comments do not directly criticise any captain, they certainly provide an insight into the challenges he faced.

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