In the first ODI match, India was unable to defend its total. West Indies successfully chased down the 288 runs target at the loss of two wickets. The Indian bowlers were hit hard by the Windies batsmen. Only pacers Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Shami picked one wicket each of the visitors. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja went wicketless. The allrounder Kedar Jadhav was given only one over to bowl in which he conceded 11 runs. Former spinner Harbhajan Singh opined that Jadhav should be given more overs to bowl which might have helped the Virat Kohli-led team.
In Chennai ground, Virat Kohli used Kedar Jadhav as a pure batsman at no. 6. The allrounder scored 40 runs off 35 balls against West Indies. He was given one over to bowl and went wicketless. Earlier in August, when India toured the Caribbean land, he went wicketless as he bowled nine overs in two ODIs. Jadhav has played 69 ODIs and has picked 27 wickets.
However, disregard for his performance, Harbhajan believes that Jadhav should be given more overs to bowl. He opines that the pitch in Chennai was low and slow which would be helpful for Jadhav to pick wickets.
“Kedar is most effective when the wicket is low and slow. I believe that he could have been given a few more overs by the captain. I am not saying Kedar doesn’t fit into the team but he has to bowl more,” Harbhajan said as quoted by India Today.
“It is because purely as no 6 batsman, when I look around I see a few options like Manish Pandey or Sanju Samson. Even Rishabh (Pant) at times won’t be a bad no 6 batsman. I feel rather than young Shivam Dube, Kedar could have been given a few more overs. Had your lead bowler given away 11 in his first over, you would have given him another over. Also, I feel for Dube but if he gets as many chances as Hardik, he will also improve,” Harbhajan signed off.