Mumbai 31 August : Former India cricketer Saba Karim has stated that Ravindra Jadeja, by playing an important innings against Pakistan in the middle of the line in the Asia Cup Group A match gave the Men in Blue another excellent option to are preparing for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November.After the captain Rohit Sharma was stricken at the end of the eighth over of the match against Pakistan on the 28th of August, Jadeja was surprisingly promoted to No.4 and batted until the end of the eighth over, scoring 35 runs in 29 balls.
He shared the stands of 36 with Suryakumar Yadav and 52 with Hardik Pandya for the fourth and fifth wickets, respectively.
When he was dismissed at the start of the final over Jadeja has made the challenge of beating the arch-rivals simpler for Pandya.
Pandya struck the decisive six with two balls left and Dinesh Karthik provided the all-rounder with a chance to win.
“I believe that at the very least during the Asia Cup, the Indian team management has chosen to include Dinesh Karthik, and that’s why they are looking to use Ravindra Jadeja as a floater.We saw him move up the order to the number.4, in the last game and we might observe this in the future.Jadeja is a different type of depth,” said Karim on the show ‘Sports Over The Top’.
Karim expressed his admiration for Jadeja and said he has emerged as a great left-hand batsman and further added in the same situation, Rishabh Pant might not be able to get an opening in the playing XI.
“Also the fact that he’s (Jadeja) become a mature left-hander that can bat higher in the order from No.4, or even No.5 and, if there’s a chance, he can also move further down the line and make quick runs.This is why as of today, there’s not a place for Rishabh Pant in the 11.But I believe Pant is an extraordinary player.He can win games in situations where the team has nothing to do.Why do you want to keep such a player? Pant out of the eleven?” Karim said.Karim.
Karim also shared his thoughts on Pant’s less-than-impressive T20 record.
“That is the conundrum that Pant must come out of.Recently, we’ve seen glimpses of the kind of performance he has displayed in Test games.We watched him perform blinder of an innings in one-day cricket against England.In the same way, there have been some excellent performances.Perhaps not on a regular base, but I believe there’s much to Pant to master in T20 cricket.He’s a better player in recent times but I believe with greater exposure you can see Pant increasing in confidence, and contributing more value to the T20 side too.”
Karim continued to talk about the advantages Karthik was given over Pant in the Asia Cup playing XI.
“I was a bit surprised, as I stand by my previous stand of being a Pant in the middle in the place of Dinesh Karthik as I have always believed that we should look ahead and, even now, I believe that Pant could provide more value with the respect due to Dinesh Karthik and more so than Dinesh Karthik.There are however, the possibility of reasons as to why one could be chatting,” added Karim.
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