Sunil Gavaskar Defends Ravindra Jadeja's Place in Indian T20 World Cup Squad

The Indian cricket team has secured its progression into the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals, with a resounding victory against the mighty Australians. Riding on Rohit Sharma's 92 off 41 balls, India bagged a 24-run win to set up semi-finals date with England.

While there were plenty of positives from the game against Australia, there were some negatives too, especially the poor form of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. India great Sunil Gavaskar, who has given his 2 cents on Virat time and again, suggested that Jadeja's place in the team shouldn't even be questioned.

Jadeja, who is a marquee all-rounder, with ability to deliver with the bat, the ball and in field, has been going through a barren run for a while. However, Gavaskar feels that the fact that Jadeja saved 20-30 runs in the field, shouldn't be overlooked just because he hasn't been able to deliver with the bat and the ball.

"I am not at all concerned as he is very experienced. For whatever opportunities he's got, he's done well. And don't forget, in the field itself, he saved 20 to 30 runs with his fielding ability, taking catches, and getting the run out. So don't forget those 20-30 plus runs. Then he enters the field, with anything that he does with the bat and ball is an added value to his ability."

"So I don't think we should even think about questioning (Jadeja). The problem with India and Indian fans is, 2 bad games and you go 'what to do with him, what to do with him?'," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

Gavaskar gave a sharp reply to fans asking whether the all-rounder deserves a place in India's XI, suggesting questions aren't raised of people make a couple of errors in other professions.

"You know that is the worry. Nobody who asks these questions even thinks about their own professions, whether they have made 2 errors and whether people are questioning their place in their own profession, whichever profession they are. This is just simply a good topic for television, you don't question Jadeja's place in the playing XI. He's a rock star," Gavaskar further added.

Against Australia, Jadeja scored an unbeaten 9 off 5 balls. With the ball, he bowled only 1 over as Glenn Maxwell looked to take him to the cleaners.

Tags: #T20WorldCup2024, #India, #Australia, #RohitSharma, #ViratKohli