Ajay Jadeja heaped praise on left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya and said he was a talent who could be groomed for the future. Chetan Sakariya made his debut for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021. The left-arm pacer made a big impact and bagged 7 wickets in 7 matches.
Ajay Jadeja, former Indian cricketer, and commentator shared his views on Chetan Sakariya’s chances of becoming a regular in Team India after he was picked in the squad for the Sri Lanka tour consisting of 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is.
Ajay Jadeja: Chetan Sakariya Has Done Well But It Will Be Hard For Him To Make It To The XI For The Availability Of More Experienced Pacers In Team
In the IPL 2021, left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya emerged as one of the finest debutant bowlers in the tournament. Having suffered a personal tragedy ahead of the tournament where he lost his brother and later his father, Chetan Sakariya made a big impact in the cash-rich league. Ajay Jadeja is impressed with Chetan Sakariya’s rise and shared his views on his performance so far.
When asked about Chetan Sakariya’s chances of becoming a regular in the India squad, Ajay Jadeja, at a virtual press conference, said that it was great to see him doing well but felt it was too early for him to be a part of the squad with competition from relatively more experienced Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar.
“It’s very heartening to see him do so well. One, especially where he comes from and there’s a personal attachment. I saw him for the first time in the SPL. And he was a star there as well. With the Indian team, there is so much talent at the moment that in spite of him being very good, there is enough talent, and who do you play him in place of?”
“In case if you want to play a left-armer, you might think, but when you have got bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar – bowlers who have been around for so long,” Jadeja said in response to a query from timesnownews.com.
Playing for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021, Chetan Sakariya bagged 7 wickets and played all 7 matches before the suspension of IPL 2021. Ajay Jadeja went on to add that while Chetan Sakariya had the talent, given the experienced pacers at India’s disposal, he was unlikely to get a chance so early in his career.
“It’s nice to see young guys coming up and everybody expecting them to be ready. But it takes a little time. Once somebody is playing, you should play him only if you believe in him. And if you believe in him, even if he has a couple of bad years, you still have to go with him. “
“Otherwise, you are not selecting, only rejecting people. Rather than giving him an opportunity so early and forget about him after he has had one bad game, he is a talent and we can groom him. Indian team can only have 11 people play. There may be good players and Chetan has done well for himself but there is still time before he pushes a Bumrah or pushes a Shami,” Jadeja added.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar will spearhead the pace attack in the Lanka tour with support from the likes of Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, and Chetan Sakariya.
Ajay Jadeja Hopes Chetan Sakariya Isn’t Be Treated Like Jaydev Unadkat Who Was Shown The Door By Selectors After Few Matches After Impressing In IPL
Ajay Jadeja cited the example of Jaydev Unadkat, who was shown the door by the selectors after few matches and said it was better to groom Chetan Sakariya than push him into international cricket.
“Let’s not forget, we did something similar to Jaydev Unadkat. He had a good IPL season, then he played one game for India and went home. Give someone an opportunity when you believe in him. Even Tendulkar got out sometimes, even the great Aravinda de Silva with us got out, it doesn’t mean they are not good enough players.”
“I think we go too much by performance on that one day and that’s happening because we have so much talent. I wish him luck, I hope I am wrong and he is in India’s squad for T20 World Cup. If I was there, I would wait for it,” the former middle-order batsman concluded.
Jaydev Unadkat has been in stellar form in the First-class circuit, emerging as the leading wicket-taker of the last season of Ranji Trophy, where he picked up 67 wickets. But he wasn’t selected for Sri Lanka or England tour even as a standby bowler.
Having made his international debut in a Test match against South Africa in 2010, Jaydev Unadkat has so far represented India in 1 Test, 7 ODIs, and 10 T20Is. He picked 8 scalps in 7 ODIs and 14 scalps in 10 T20Is besides the solitary Test. His last T20I appearance came in 2018. In 84 IPL matches, he has 85 scalps besides his name.