Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, while analyzing the spin department of the Indian cricket team, admitted that Axar Patel is one for the future but also quipped that he is not in “the same league” as the senior spinner Ravindra Jadeja just yet.
Team India’s spin department has been a topic of hot discussion among fans, cricketers, and experts among the cricket fraternity. After all, the country continuously produces a talented crop, and the fight for a spot in the team is always a tense one. The latest to present his views on the same is former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who has drawn a comparison between senior spinner Ravindra Jadeja and future star Axar Patel.
Salman Butt: Ravindra Jadeja Is A Complete Player, While Axar Patel Is Talented
While addressing the topic in a video on his YouTube channel, left-hander batsman Salman Butt quipped that while left-arm spinner Axar Patel is talented, his teammate Ravindra Jadeja is a complete player.
“Axar Patel is extremely talented, but Ravindra Jadeja is a complete player. Be it batting, bowling or fielding, he is an outstanding team man. So definitely when one player goes, his replacement comes,” said Salman Butt.
He then added that the two aren’t in the same league and said Ravindra Jadeja is the “better option” currently.
“If you don’t have Jadeja, then you have Axar Patel, but at the moment, I don’t think Axar and Jadeja are in the same league. Axar is very talented and can take that place in the future, but Jadeja is the better option right now,” elaborated Salman Butt.
Axar Patel made his Test debut in February 2021, six years after playing his maiden limited-overs match for India, and starred so much so with the ball that he ended up picking 27 wickets from the 3 matches in the series. He took 4 five-wicket hauls as England lost the series 3-1.
England managed to win only the first Test match, which Axar Patel missed due to a knee injury. In his debut Test series, he finished behind Ravichandran Ashwin (32) in the leading wicket-takers list. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja has amassed 2145 runs besides picking up 227 scalps in 56 Tests. He averages 34 with the bat in Tests and 24.97 with the ball in the longest format.
Salman Butt Praised Rahul Dravid For Winning First T20I Series As Full Time Coach But Stressed 2022 T20I World Cup Is The Target
Meanwhile, Salman Butt recently praised India’s new head coach Rahul Dravid and his approach following India’s 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand in the T20I series.
“It only reflects utmost clarity and humility. And very realistic and professional talk because India did win but the other team just came from a World Cup final and hence it is not easy to mentally prepare for another international series so fast. They (New Zealand) also lost the toss. When you play so much international cricket, there is a difference in intensity as well. So he did take all these factors into account when making that statement,” said Salman Butt.
” Yes India tested their bench strength, there was a new captain, new coach and they managed to win. But he is keeping them in line for the hunt. The actual target is the next target which will be in the next 10 months. So this is absolutely the correct and needed approach,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has played 5 T20Is since his comeback in the limited-overs format after a gap of 4 years. He has picked 9 scalps at an average of 5.25 and an economy rate of 5.25, and a strike rate of 13.3. The 35-year-old Ravichandran Ashwin last played white-ball cricket for India in 2017 before being sidelined from one-day cricket following the Champions Trophy debacle.
He was left out from all 4 Tests that India played on the England tour, despite being the leading wicket-taker in the squad by picking up 413 wickets in the 79 Tests he has played for India, at an excellent average of 24.56. India registered a whitewash against 2021 T20 World Cup finalists New Zealand, winning the bilateral T20I series 3-0 in a convincing fashion.