Jadeja produced an outstanding spell in the semi-final against New Zealand.
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been a constant topic of discussion in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup, especially after a series of negative comments directed at him by former cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar.
Ahead of India’s group match against Bangladesh, Manjrekar had said that Jadeja is a “bits and pieces” cricketer and he won’t pick him in the playing XI in the ongoing World Cup.
"I am not a big fan of bits and pieces players which Jadeja is at this point of his career in 50-over cricket. In Test matches, he is a pure bowler. But in 50-over cricket, I would rather have a batsman and a spinner," Sanjay Manjrekar had told IANS.
Subsequently, Jadeja had hit out at Manjrekar through a tweet, asking him to respect the achievement of people.
Later, Jadeja featured in his first World Cup 2019 game and returned with the figures of 1/40 in 10 overs as India restricted Sri Lanka to 264/7 in 50 overs and eventually won the match by seven wickets. And on Tuesday (July 9), during the ongoing semi-final against New Zealand, Jadeja produced a fine spell of 10-0-34-1 following which he drew special praises from two cricketing legends – Sachin Tendulkar and Kevin Pietersen.
Both Tendulkar and Pietersen were featuring in the expert panel for Star Sports wherein they showered rich praise on Jadeja.
“Jadeja created a new angle while making a slight change in the way he approached the crease. And that way the batsmen felt almost like facing an off-spinner (Jadeja is a left-arm spinner),” Tendulkar quoted.
On the other hand, Pietersen said that the Indian all-rounder is not a bits and pieces player by any means.
“Jadeja is a not a bits and pieces player and he would have been a sure pick in my side if I was the captain,” the former English captain remarked.