Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta was in all praise of Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja post his heroics in the second Test in Melbourne that led to India scripting a memorable 8-wicket win in the high-pressure Boxing Day Test on Tuesday. Furthermore, Deep compared him to star English cricketer Ben Stokes in terms of his batting ability.
The cricketer-turned-commentator stated that Jadeja has been a completely different batsman in the last couple of years. and with his skill-set, he could be a potential batter at the No 4 spot in the IPL.
Create your own fantasy team now on the MPL Fantasy cricket app
As far as Test numbers are concerned of the last four years, Jadeja averages 46.29 with the bat and 24.97 with the ball which is the best among the all-rounders in the world at present. Even the likes of Ben Stokes (batting average of 42.34 and bowling average of 27.59) and Shakib Al Hasan (batting average of 38.48 and bowling average 26.03) are few spots behind him.
Especially, in the last two years, Jadeja has been phenomenal with the bat, amassing 750 runs in 15 Tests averaging over 53 with a hundred and 7 fifties.
“Jadeja replacing Virat Kohli in the second Test was one of the things in my mind because of the way he has batted in the last couple of years. Generally, people think about Jadeja that he is a bowler who can bat, someone who has not capitalized much in Test cricket.
But I always thought he has actually done better than a lot of batsmen in the last couple of years. He is getting runs across all formats, and also as recently as last year he was the world’s top-ranked Test bowler,” Deep Dasgupta told Sports Today.
Also Read – It will be a toss-up between Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari for Rohit Sharma to play: MSK Prasad
Jadeja was among the architects of India’s triumph in the lately concluded Test at Melbourne. The all-rounder scored a gritty 57 in the first innings, stitched a 121-run stand for the sixth-wicket with stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane, and managed to grab a total of 3 wickets that led the visitors level the ongoing 4-match Border-Gavaskar series by 1-1.
Deep reckons that Jadeja is right alongside Ben Stokes in terms of his batting ability. He added that the 32-year-old Jamnagar-born should have come up in Chennai Super Kings’ batting order in the IPL 2020 held in UAE.
“As of now the way he is batting he definitely is. Even during the IPL, I actually said why not him at No 4 for CSK. He has got a couple of triple hundreds in domestic cricket, getting runs there is not easy.
Ravindra Jadeja always had the skill-set wit the bat: Deep Dasgupta
For Saurashtra, he bats at No 4 but for India, he comes in at 7 or 8. Somehow I felt that he never took his batting seriously enough. In 2017, he was dropped from the side but and I think what kind of prompted him was the fact that he wanted to make himself more suited to the team, not just with the ball but with the bat as well. Because Jadeja, I know for a fact, always wanted to be a batsman,” said the 43-year-old.
Also Read: No real surprise that India came out really hard in MCG: Pat Cummins
In 44 First-Class matches for Saurashtra, Jadeja has accumulated a whopping 3359 runs while averaging just under 60 with 8 hundreds and 11 fifties.
“He always had the skill-set with the bat but earlier on he would play terrible shots and get out. But now, he is putting a price to his wicket, he is thinking and batting like a batsman, and that I think has changed in his batting in the last few year,” Deep added.
The third Test between India and Australia is scheduled to take place at Sydney Cricket Ground from January 7, with the visitors eyeing to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series.
