Ravindra Jadeja Replaces Gautam Gambhir For ODIs

In what will send the Indian fans into frenzy, the selectors have named Ravindra Jadeja as a replacement for Gautam Gambhir for the remainder of the India’s tour of England. Jadeja’s inclusion has often divided opinion among the Indian fans and with the Indian team in the middle of a muddle in England, his selection couldn’t have come as a bigger surprise.

Fortunately for the team in England and to be fair to the selectors back home, unlike the plucking of RP Singh out of thin air, Jadeja has been playing a lot of domestic cricket in the Buchi Babu tournament for Saurashtra.

What gives the selectors’ decision some backing is the form that Jadeja showed in the tournament – 380 runs at an average of 76 and 12 wickets at less than 13 runs each wicket.

Of course, it must be said that the level of cricket in the Buchi Babu tournament cannot hold a candle up to the kind of conditions and opposition that Jadeja could have to face in England. At least, one can expect him to go out there at full throttle, unlike RP Singh, who was a strange selection, having come to England directly from the beaches of Miami.

A look at Jadeja’s statistics should point to him being a decent all-rounder, and a great potential for the future. In the 35 ODIs he has featured in, Jadeja averages 31.5 with the bat and concedes 4.86 per over with his left-arm spin.

Unfortunately, stats speak of only a part of the story. There has been an off-field controversy he was involved in while participating in the IPL, when he was suspended by the tournament for a year for demanding more money from his owners. Then again, his runs in the ODIs have rarely come in a cause that has helped the team; more often than not, they have been scored when the result has already been a foregone conclusion.

There were a few other candidates who could have got a go; like Murali Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath amongst the front-runners.