He said Ravindra Jadeja would have been effective had WTC Final been a 5-day affair.
Former BCCI chairman of selection committee MSK Prasad has opened up on the selection of the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for the recent ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand.
As the Indian cricket team missed out on another opportunity to end their ICC trophy drought having lost the WTC 2021 Final to New Zealand, the cricket fraternity continues to discuss and analyze what went wrong with the Indians at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
Well, there were many criticizing Jadeja’s inclusion in India’s playing XI for the WTC Final, as the all-rounder had no impact in the big clash, ended up with a solitary wicket and 31 runs in two innings in Southampton. However, some questioned Team India’s team combination of picking two spinning all-rounders in Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja for the WTC 2021 Final.
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Reacting to the debates, Prasad believes that India went with their “best possible XI” as well as backed Jadeja’s selection, saying the decision was right keeping in mind the full 5-day contest and given his superb touch with the bat – an average of 47.37 since 2017 – and his bowling.
The former chief selector noted that Jadeja would have been effective if the WTC Final would have been a 5-day affair instead of the less-than-four-day game due to the rain in Southampton.
However, there would've been no second thoughts if Hardik Pandya was fit to bowl in Tests, then he would have certainly played in the final in seam-friendly conditions.
Prasad told SportsKeeda, “There was a reason why Jadeja was played. The reason was that, if in case it would have been a full game, there would have been a lot of footmarks, they [NZ] had many left-handers in their side, which he could have fancied his chances against. If you really look at it, there was some spin on offer which helped even Ashwin.”
He further added, “Also, considering the kind of form that Jadeja is in, that was the best possible XI we could have put up. The first day got washed but it still was a five-day game with the extension of one more day. So had it been a five-day game, Jadeja would definitely have come in handy.”
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On questions whether India could have gone for an extra-batsman in place of Jadeja, the former selector said that the left-handed Jadeja was included for his all-around abilities.
He signed off by saying, “Jadeja is no less than anyone with the bat. If you see his Test record of late, he has been very good with the bat. Plus, he would have been an added advantage with the ball and also on the field. Had Hardik Pandya been around, then there would not have been any second thoughts. But since he is not there, we wanted one more all-rounder and we only had a spinning all-rounder.”
(With SportsKeeda Inputs)