Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has defended the Indian team management’s decision to try out new combinations ahead of the Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023. Team India has rested experienced Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the 2nd ODI against West Indies, where the team lost the game by six wickets on Saturday.
India opted to rest their senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as they gave a chance to fringe Indian players in the 2nd ODI against West Indies but the move proved to be costly one for the Men in Blue, as the Indian players failed spectacularly against the Men in Maroon, as they could put on a show on a tough wicket at Barbados.
Speaking to the media ahead of the deciding ODI against West Indies, Ravindra Jadeja feels that it is a chance for the management to try out a few experiments just before the marquee event and asserted that team cannot try new things on the big events and reckons that this kind of games gives their team an idea about their playing combinations.
“This is the series before Asia Cup and World Cup, where we can experiment, we can try out new combinations. Once we will go to play Asia Cup and World Cup, we won’t be able to experiment with anything. It’s a good thing that we will get the idea about what is team’s balance, strengths and weaknesses,” Ravindra Jadeja said.
India is trying out a few new players, who can play a crucial role for them in the ODI World Cup as the Men in Blue have failed to do well in ICC competitions in recent times and have not won a global tournament since winning the 2013 Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. All eyes will be on Team India as fans desperately expect them to finally end their long wait for an ICC title.
This Is The Series Where We Can Afford To Chop And Change – Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja said that the team was not disappointed with the loss against West Indies and believes that this series allow them to chop and change their playing combination as the team is not worried about the loss and reckons that team wants to bring the best out of their players.
“We were not disappointed with the loss. We are trying different combinations. We can try different batsmen at different positions. This is the series where we can afford to chop and change. We are not worried about one loss, we are trying to get the best out of our players,” Ravindra Jadeja added.
India and West Indies will be playing the final game of the series at Trinidad and Tobago after playing the first two in Barbados and it will be interesting to see whether India continues their experimentation in the 50-over format or bring in the proper batting order for the final game.