Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has taken a subtle dig at Ravindra Jadeja’s off-colored performance in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 for India and said that the two other spinners in Akshar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have more to offer than the Saurashtra spinner.
Jadeja's performances in the ongoing showpiece tournament have not met expectations. He just bowled one over in the Men in Blue's final Super 8 match against Australia on Monday, June 24. The left-arm spinner allowed 17 runs from the over and was not given a second chance to redeem himself.
Jadeja has 16 runs from 11 balls in three innings throughout six T20 World Cup 2024 matches. With the ball, Jadeja has 1 wicket in 10 overs in 5 innings, conceding 78 runs with an economy of 7.80.
"I think compared to Akshar and Kuldeep Yadav, maybe Jadeja is a little limited in comparison. Akshar Patel has those little subtleties, change of angle, pace, and what he does. Jadeja is a very disciplined, accurate bowler who will feed off a good pitch, and if a batter makes a mistake, he gets you out. Kuldeep Yadav and Akshar Patel have more to offer than Ravindra Jadeja,” Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
Akshar Patel has 5 wickets in 14 overs in 6 games with an economy of 7.21 and has scored 35 runs in 29 balls with a strike rate of 120.68.
"I think India made a commitment to Akshar Patel as the first-choice left-arm spinner. So not only with performance that Jadeja has been relegated to number three, that is also about the captain who believes which is the better left-arm spinner for him,” Manjrekar added.
Sanjay Manjrekar claimed that Akshar Patel will be full of confidence after his impressive performance against Australia. The cunning spinner claimed Marcus Stoinis' wicket and conceded only 21 runs in three overs.
Akshar was also outstanding on the field, dismissing Mitchell Marsh with a magnificent one-handed catch in the boundary. He won the best fielder medal for that catch as well.
"They've gone to him before Jadeja, the more seasoned and the bigger name. After today's game, his confidence will be right up there. He'll regard this as one of his most important performances. Against the odds, small ground, Australian team where one left-hander was flying right through the innings, excellent economy rate and bowled well,” Manjrekar signed off.
India will face England in their semi-final match on June 27 in Guyana.
