IND vs ENG 2024: England not difficult to beat, just different – Ravindra Jadeja

Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja feels England is not difficult to beat but admitted they play a different brand of cricket. Under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, England has adopted an aggressive approach of taking the bull by its horns and have also reaped rewards.

The visitors stunned the hosts in the opening Test match by 28 runs after Ollie Pope scored a majestic knock of 196 runs. However, India was able to bounce back strongly in the second game, registering a 106-run to level the series.

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja missed the second Test due to a hamstring injury. However, Jadeja achieved 100% fitness ahead of the ongoing third Test at Rajkot.

“I won’t say they are difficult because their style of playing cricket is aggressive,” Jadeja said a day ahead of the game. “In all these years, whichever team has come they have not found it easy to come to India, play on the Indian wickets and win in Indian conditions.

“But in this series, even the first Test that we lost, we had taken a lead of 190 runs and from there we slipped. In the second innings, due to small mistakes we lost the game. It is not that England are difficult to beat but they play with a different style and it takes some time to understand that. Once you understand their style and approach we can plan our game accordingly.”

Meanwhile, Ollie Pope had taken the attack to Jadeja in the opening Test match at Hyderabad. However, the left-arm orthodox spinner added he would not drift away from his plans in the third game.

“As a team, if someone is playing differently you will start thinking about the lines to bowl. As a bowler I will try to keep it simple and not try anything different because they are playing different shots. Let them play their style of cricket, we will stick to our basic plans which we have been doing for so many years.”

England have put themselves in front as they have bagged three wickets in the first hour of the opening day in the third Test match.