India’s former fielding coach R Sridhar has lavished rich praise on allrounder Ravindra Jadeja for his brilliance in the field and athleticism, stating the cricketer is extremely pleasing to the eye while he is on the field.
He also mentioned that the 33-year-old Jadeja stands out in the field just like how Mohammed Azharuddin did in the 90s for India.
“Jadeja is someone who is pleasing to the eye even when he is chasing a ball to the boundary. He is cut above rest in world cricket. So was Azhar during his time.
Azhar of 1985 to 1990 would have been a brilliant fielder even now, whether slips, close-in or being lightning in the outfield,”
Sridhar was quoted as saying by India Today.
Sridhar has fond memories of watching Azharuddin go about his business on the field at a time when there was no “fitness culture” within the Indian set-up.
“It is difficult to judge across different eras and fielding judged by different standards. In the ’80s when Ajju bhai made his debut, there was no fitness culture in Indian cricket.
It kicked in only in the late 90s and Ajju bhai was a stand-out because of his athleticism and because he had great hands, good throw. Probably the bench-mark was different,”
he added.
Jadeja’s all-round brilliance and athleticism in the field has made him an integral part of the Indian all-format set-up. The cricketer has had his best performances in Test cricket, where along with Ravichandran Ashwin, he forms one of India’s greatest spin-bowling pairs ever. Jadeja has taken 232 wickets from 57 Tests at 24.84 while also scoring 2,195 runs at 33.76 per innings, including one hundred and 17 half-centuries.
Jadeja has also become India’s premier white-ball allrounder. The Saurashtra cricketer has bagged 188 wickets from 168 ODIs and 46 scalps in 55 T20Is with economy rates of 4.92 and 6.99, respectively.
But what has really led to Jadeja’s rise in the pecking order for white-ball cricket are his encouraging Indian Premier League exploits. Since the 2020 campaign, playing for the Chennai Super Kings, Jadeja has not only taken 19 wickets at 7.78 runs per over but also struck 459 runs at a strike-rate of 157.73 while averaging 57.37.
This astonishing form and run with bat and ball have made Jadeja an indispensable cog in India’s wheels across formats. The cricketer is currently out with an injury to his forearm. Having missed the second Test against New Zealand in Mumbai, he has also been ruled out of the three-Test series in South Africa, where he will be a big miss because of the ideal balance that his presence provides.
The Test series against South Africa, played for the coveted Gandhi-Mandela Trophy, starts on December 26 in Centurion. Johannesburg (January 3-7) and Cape Town (Jan 11-15) will be hosting the next two Tests. The series against SA is part of India’s campaign in the new cycle of the World Test Championship, where they began their journey with encouraging wins in England and won 1-0 at home versus New Zealand.
India lost 2-1 on their last trip to the rainbow nation and have never won a Test series in South Africa. The team will also play three ODIs on their tour, held in Paarl on January 19 and 21, before the final one-dayer in Cape Town on January 23.
