After India’s poor performances that led to a 2-0 series loss to Bangladesh, the wrath of the Indian fans and media was on under-performing All Rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who was not at his best ever since returning from a shoulder surgery ahead of the World Cup. During the Post match press conference, the Indian journalists put some tough questions regarding Jadeja in front of skipper MS Dhoni.
When asked about persisting with an under-performing Jadeja, Dhoni said that Jadeja bowled well in the past during the powerplay and the slog overs and that’s where the skipper wants him to bowl. And in the batting front, Dhoni justified Jadeja’s case by pointing out his batting position. Jadeja walks in to bat at number 7 and he rarely gets more balls to face.
Dhoni said we use every bowler according to his potential. I don’t like to bowl him in the first 10, but after that he has bowled for us consistently, in the second Powerplay and even in the slog. I have used him late in the innings, and he has bowled three decent overs in the Powerplay. I feel it is very difficult for someone like him to justify his selection because more often than not they don’t get to bat. In the last one year even I have not got a decent chance to bat. The only decent chance you get is when you are four-five down in 20 overs.
He also added that the Indian top order has been in a great form in the recent past and that is one of the reasons why the lower middle order is not tested.
To always come in an international game and expect an individual to score a fifty is not really possible, so it is a difficult one. Also, our top order has done really well so we haven’t tested the bottom order. You can say these two matches our lower order was tested so it is difficult for him to justify his batting. From bowling point of view, in between he was up and down, but later on, during the World Cup he bowled well and after that here he is bowling well, he concluded.