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Kedar Jadhav has been under fire following a disappointing string of low scores for CSK in IPL 2020. Virender Sehwag, the former Indian dashing batsman, however, has asked MS Dhoni not to drop Kedar Jadhav from playing XI in forthcoming matches.

Veteran Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman Kedar Jadhav has disappointed with the bat scoring only 58 runs in six matches averaging a dismal 19.33 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) season so far.

His inability to accelerate the run-rate have cost the team big losses. While several fans and experts are calling for him to be axed from the team, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has rather asked franchise skipper MS Dhoni to encourage the player instead of dropping him from XI.

Kedar Jadhav Should Be Motivated By Skipper MS Dhoni : Virender Sehwag

In the latest episode of Viru Ki Baithak, the Facebook show of Virender Sehwag. The veteran cricketer addressed several topics of the ongoing IPL 2020 besides answering a few fans queries in the video. With CSK set to take on Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) next on 10th October in Dubai, Virender Sehwag was asked about his stand on the case of Kedar Jadhav who is under fire for non-performance.

Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni. Photo Credit: AFP.

The opener admitted that Kedar Jadhav is yet to fire in IPL 2020 but may play better in next matches since he has experience of playing for India in the past.

“Jadhav has played for India in the past and is still a part of the national setup. He should be in the playing XI for CSK but he does require a little motivation from the skipper Dhoni so that he can do better. He might have flopped in one or two matches but I hope in the coming matches he will do well,” he said in the video.

The middle-order batsman has aggregated only 58 runs in four innings for CSK at an average of 19.33 with a low strike-rate of 98.31 after six matches in IPL 2020. In 85 IPL matches, he has scored 1137 runs averaging 22.74 with four fifties which is in contrast to his ODI average of 42.09.

Kedar Jadhav’s Replacements

CSK does not have many options to replace the underperformers after their batting mainstay Suresh Raina opted out even before the commencement of the tournament. At the same time, Rituraj Gaikwad has failed to rise to expectations. Rituraj Gaikwad has only scored five runs in two matches while the likes of Monu Kumar and N Jagadeesan are yet to be tested.

Murali Vijay may come lower down the batting order, but he too has failed so far opening for CSK with only 32 runs in his belt in three matches at a dismal average of 10.67 and a pathetic strike rate of 74.42.

Suresh Raina’s absence has hurt them the most as the left-hander was the first batsman to score 5000 IPL runs and is second in the list of highest run-scorers in IPL history with 5368 runs in 193 appearances. Spinner allrounder Piyush Chawla is yet to bat.