India may have lost the first practice match of World Cup 2019 to New Zealand but one of the positives to take out from that game was the batting form of Ravindra Jadeja. The left-handed batsman came in to bat at a time when the side was six down for 81. Barring MS Dhoni, all the established batsmen were back in the pavilion and responsibility to steer the team ahead was on the duo out in the middle.
While Dhoni was dismissed on 17 off 42, Jadeja continued to bat for long and mustered 54 runs off 50 to help India post above 150 on the board. Jadeja also hit 2 sixes and sis fours during his innings and gave Indian bowlers something to defend.
Jadeja is already known for his brilliant fielding and economical bowling but on Saturday, he displayed another skill at the top level. Commenting on his innings, Jadeja said that he has been working on his batting in IPL.
“When I went to bat, I realised there were a lot of overs and was keen on utilizing them. I decided to play cautiously to start with and that helped make batting easier as the innings progressed. I have been working on my batting all through the IPL, and even during matches sometimes I do have a bat and work on the basics like shot selection,” he said.
His form with the bat in the practice match could very well see him get a place in the playing XI as well. In 2017/18 season Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were automatic selections in the ODI team. Their form saw Jadeja and R Ashwin being dropped from the limited-overs squad soon after Champions Trophy.
Watch: KL Rahul kicks the ball after being dismissed in practice match
While Ashwin is yet to make a comeback, Jadeja made his comeback in Asia Cup 2018 and since then, he has been part of most of the ODIs that India have played. His batting and fielding keep him ahead of both the spinners and also tempts captain Virat Kohli to include him in the playing XI.
He sent yet another timely reminder to the captain with his batting in the practice match and there could be a case when either of Chahal and Kuldeep might not make it to the playing XI during World Cup. On most occasions, it has been Chahal who has to sit out but he has made a strong comeback always.
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The Indian players will have an opportunity to make amends to the mistakes as India take on Bangladesh in their second practice match on May 28. Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav, who missed the first match, could be fit for the second match.