Ravindra Jadeja was the Player of the Match in India's 1st Test win in Ahmedabad.
R Ashwin talked about his former spin partner Ravindra Jadeja, mentioning him in his Player of the Match speech after the first Test between India and the West Indies in Ahmedabad. Ravindra Jadeja scored an unbeaten ton and took four wickets in India’s innings win.
Despite his success in Test cricket this year, especially in India's series in England, Jadeja acknowledged he missed Ravichandran Ashwin, with whom he formed a dangerous pair for the national team for a long time.
While Jadeja lamented missing Ashwin's bowling from the other end, the now-retired spinner saw the humor in it, warning his former teammate that splitting his stints would not be as successful.
“Usne jo wicket liye hain, usmein se mein 2-3 nikaal leta (the wickets he has taken, I would have gotten 2-3 out of those). He shouldn’t be missing me; what advantage is there that he should be taking? Really happy for him, the way he is batting, the way he is becoming a bona fide legend of Test cricket,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
However, Ashwin noted that Jadeja remains the only member of the old guard, and it will be a challenge for him to adapt to the new and changing dressing room. He gave the example of missing Cheteshwar Pujara from the Indian dressing room after he was left out of the Indian team.
“After listening to Jadeja, I know he was showing his affection for me. More than anything else, I think he doesn’t have too many people to talk to. All the new boys now. The small talk between us, we can have when we reach a position of super-seniority, but you have to think before doing it with the newer boys. If I say this to him, how will he judge me?
It happened to me when Pujji retired as well; we sit together and talk about something, and you miss that person. I know what Jadeja was saying, but we will meet and talk sometime,” explained Ashwin.
Jadeja will be seen in action when India takes on the West Indies in the second Test of the series in Delhi, starting on October 10.