The Indian cricket team announced the 15-man squad for the upcoming series against West Indies, and Ravindra Jadeja was named in the leadership roles alongside Shubman Gill.
According to the squad list shared by the Board of Control of Cricket in India, Ravindra Jadeja will be the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team. This will be the first time he has been seen in this role in the longest format, although he has previously fulfilled it in other formats.
Vice Captaincy for Jadeja
Jadeja has already announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game. However, he still plays a crucial role in both the ODI and Test matches. And he proved his importance during the recent tour of England.
In the recent outing in the UK, Jadeja emerged as one of the most important players for the team. And was very much a part of the force that brought England to their knees, helping India secure a 2-2 draw, after going 2-1 down.
In the 10 innings that Jadeja played in England, he managed to score 516 runs, at an extraordinary average of 86. This saw him emerge as the fourth-highest run scorer of the inning, behind Gill, Rahul, and Root.
This move by the team management shows that they are looking at Jadeja as a player who will be a part of the team for the next WTC cycle as well as the upcoming 2027 ODI World Cup.
Jadeja in recent times
Jadeja made his debut for the Indian team in 2009 in an ODI against Sri Lanka. Fast forward 16 years, and he has emerged as one of the most important players in the history of this team, at least the new generation.
Jadeja has played in a total of 204 ODIs, in which he has scored 3284 runs at an average of 32. While in Tests has represented the team in 85 games and scored 3886 runs.
What’s really fascinating is the fact that Jadeja has scored 2000 test runs in the last 5 years alone. He has been a beast with the bat in hand, but his bowling has not been very far behind.
In fact, he became the first player to score 2000 runs and take 100 wickets in the World Test Championship. This is the very reason behind his reign as one of the longest number 1 ranked Test All-rounder.
It will be interesting to see how Jadeja operates in the familiar territory at home. He was a beast, alongside Ashwin, for the best part of the last decade. But will he be able to continue with the same ferocity?
