‘I loved it. He fits in perfectly’: Manjrekar’s massive prediction on Ravindra Jadeja’s future
Manjrekar’s massive prediction on Ravindra Jadeja’s future
While Hardik Pandya’s 3-25 and unbeaten 33 steered India to a five-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan, Ravindra Jadeja made his presence felt during the 52-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Ravindra Jadeja has made significant improvements in his batting over the years. The premier all-rounder was promoted to the number four spot, with Rishabh Pant out of the all-important Asia Cup contest against Pakistan on Sunday.
While Hardik Pandya’s 3-25 and unbeaten 33 steered India to a five-wicket victory over the arch-rivals, Jadeja made his presence felt during the 52-run stand for the fifth wicket. With seven required in the last six deliveries, Mohammad Nawaz clean bowled Jadeja with the first ball before Pandya finished off the game in style.
Ravindra Jadeja’s future
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Ravindra Jadeja, who played a key knock of 35 runs, showed he can excel if promoted up the batting order. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has also backed Jadeja’s elevation, saying he can be labelled as a batting all-rounder in white-ball formats.
“Yes. Very good move and I loved it. And I do not think it was a gamble. It was not a wild card because Pakistan were bowling two spinners, one leg spinner and a left-arm spinner, Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab. So, they were going to bowl for a while and that is what Babar did.
It was like they bowled one over spell or two over spell,” said Manjrekar on Sports 18 show ‘Sports Over The Top’.
“A left-hander coming in would just make things a little difficult. The ball also, the pitch looked green, but the ball was turning, so the spinners were going to make an impact. So that was pretty good.
“And also, there was another long-term clue or a thought that could come in, is that now slowly in white ball cricket, Jadeja could now be looked at as a batting all-rounder. He bowled 2 overs, but if he’s going to take important positions in the batting order and make the kind of contribution that he did against Pakistan then Wow!
He fits in perfectly,” added the cricketer-turned-commentator.
Jadeja himself said that he was “mentally ready” for the batting challenge against Pakistan. He said that his role with the bat in the future will depend on the situation and opponent bowlers.
Manjrekar explained how Pandya being the additional bowler fuels Jadeja’s promotion in the batting unit.
“So, you have got Hardik Pandya as the extra bowler, then Jadeja can be your push-in if one of the seamers do not bowl well.
So going up the order and him also delivering are great signs for India where there we are seeing slowly a transition of Jadeja becoming more of a batting all-rounder in white ball cricket,” elaborated Manjrekar.
