ENG vs IND 2021: India are overestimating Ravindra Jadeja’s batting abilities in overseas conditions: Sanjay Manjrekar

Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar believes India are overestimating Ravindra Jadeja’s batting abilities in overseas conditions.

Jadeja has been backed as a batting all-rounder in the ongoing England tour as he has played ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin in the first four Test matches.

But, barring one half-century, Jadeja hasn’t been able to deliver the goods with the bat as he has scored 143 runs in six innings at an average of 23.43. Jadeja hasn’t received a lot of support from India’s tail and he hasn’t had many options other than to attack in the fag end of the Indian innings as he has batted at number seven.

However, Jadeja was given a chance to bat at number five in the first innings of the ongoing Oval Test match. But the southpaw could not grab his chance as he was dismissed by Chris Woakes after scoring only 10 runs. Jadeja tried his best to show resistance but didn’t look comfortable at the crease.

“I think the T20 Way of thinking has come in. I think they overestimated the ability of Jadeja to play at No. 5. In these conditions, it was a disaster waiting for him,” Manjrekar said to Sony Sports.

“I think Indian cricket is overestimating Jadeja’s batting ability in overseas conditions. In India, send him at No. 5, there is going to be no problem. In these conditions, we saw while he was out there when the ball was swinging, he didn’t look comfortable,” he added.

On the other hand, Virat Kohli has often quashed the idea of playing with an extra batsman. Kohli feels if the top order can’t do the job, the extra batsman won’t be able to make a substantial difference. Former Indian fast bowler Ajit Agarkar questioned why India is not playing with an extra batsman in tough English conditions.

“I think the team selection… enough has been spoken about it. If you think, these conditions are difficult to bat, why not have an extra batsman? And then 4 bowlers should be able to get the job done, considering these bowlers are fit,” Agarkar said.