Chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Monday cleared the doubts about Ravindra Jadeja’s absence in the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka ODIs. The 35-year-old bowed out from the shortest format after winning the T20 World Cup 2024 in the Caribbean. But not getting a call-up for the 3 ODIs against Sri Lanka was assumed as the end of the road for the all-rounder in the 50-over format.
Addressing a joint press conference with head coach Gautam Gambhir in Mumbai, Agarkar assured that Jadeja was not dropped and that he remains in the team’s scheme of things for the Champions Trophy. He explained that since India wanted to test Axar Patel in the format after his impressive show in the T20Is, selectors could only pick one left-handed spin-bowling all-rounder.
“Not at all dropped. Either him or Axar. Big test season coming up. I don’t think 3 games would have mattered. We should have cleared. He is still within the scheme of things,” he said.
Coach Gambhir echoed the same emotions, stating that Jadeja will play a key role in the 10 Test matches lined up after the Sri Lanka tour. India will begin their home season with 2 Test matches against Bangladesh and 3 against New Zealand. The team will fly to Australia later this year for the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy which comprises 5 Tests.
“I think it would have been pointless to take both him and Akshar for this short series. We know what Jaddu’s done. He’s had a terrific 50-over World Cup, so no, he wasn’t dropped at all. All options are open, but either of them wouldn’t have played all three games if we had taken both. There’s a big test season coming up where he’s likely to feature in a lot of the tests, so I don’t think three games would have mattered. We probably should have clarified that after the selection. He hasn’t been dropped. He’s still within the scheme of things and very important as a player,” Gambhir said.
“After the Sri Lanka tour, we’ve got a long break, a month-long break, and then we’ve got 10 Test matches. That’s not bad because playing continuously helps in Test matches, with the tour of Australia coming up as well.
“Some of the players who missed out on the Sri Lanka tour, like Ravindra Jadeja, are very important for all those ten Test matches. I’m really looking forward to all the Test matches,” he added.
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