Jadeja the all-rounder's time has come

File image: Ravindra Jadeja

Over two thousand runs (2370) and nearly 250 wickets (241 to be precise) in less than sixty (58) Test matches is perhaps suffice to qualify anyone as a very fine all-rounder in Test cricket.  And yet, it took an incredible performance like the recently concluded Mohali Test against Sri Lanka for the world to take a serious note of Ravindra Jadeja’s caliber as a genuine all-rounder. In fact, if the Rajkot player had managed to take one more wicket in that match, he would have had the distinction of finishing a Test match with a hundred and 10 wickets in the same match. Something only three players (England’s Ian Botham, Pakistan’s Imran Khan and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan) in Test history have achieved.

And yet, only a couple of years back, Jadeja was not considered as an-rounder neither in India nor abroad. When you mention the word all-rounder, immediately England’s Ben Stokes or West Indian Jason Holder may come to your mind. And this is not that the fans or cricket world doesn’t want to recognise Jadeja’s prowess with bat and ball. Perhaps, cricket’s inherent bias for a fast-bowling all-rounder is part of a long tradition whose default setting for the definition of an all-rounder is from fast bowling. And that also perhaps explains why a great like Richie Benaud (former Australian captain who later became the Voice of Cricket) is often remembered as a great leg-spinner and his 2000 plus runs often ignored. The former West Indies captain Carl Hooper who scored over 5000 runs and also took more than 100 wickets is largely known as a fine batter and not an all-rounder. Same can be said about former India coach Ravi Shastri who too like Jadeja was a left-arm spinner with over 150 wickets) and nearly four thousand runs (3830). So, is this one of the reasons why the 33-year-old Jadeja doesn’t get enough credit despite his consistent shows with both bat and ball not only in Test cricket but in white ball cricket as well? “The quality and value of a fast-bowling all-rounder is rare. In many countries like South Africa, Australia and England where you can’t play two spinners and invariably go with three pacers, the value and flexibility a fast-bowling all-rounder offers is immense, explains former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan in an exclusive chat with me over the phone. “However, with someone like Jadeja the value for a team is no less. In India, where we always go with two spinners, if you have someone like Jadeja as a spin-all-rounder, it gives you the flexibility in choosing different players in the playing XI. Apart from that, Jadeja is a rare breed because his fielding skills are as good as his batting and bowling and it makes him a very effective player, says Pathan who has known Jadeja since his formative years and have played a lot of matches together for the national team.

In International Cricket Council (ICC)’s latest ranking, Jason Holder has just been toppled by Jadeja in the all-rounder’s category.  However, if anyone can challenge Jadeja’s status as the premier all-rounder in Test cricket, it could be former Bangladesh Captain Shakib Al Hasan who has almost similar kind of numbers like the Indian all-rounder.  More than 4000 runs along with 215 wickets in nearly as many matches Jadeja has played so far in red-ball cricket. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is the best spin bowling all-rounder at the moment and no one certainly comes close to him,” argues Pathan who is now a popular cricket commentator in Hindi and English.

If you closely analyse Jadeja’s numbers in both the bowling and batting departments over the last five years, there is not a dramatic change in the former. In this phase, his bowling strike rate has improved from 60 to 58 (which means a wicket after every 58 balls on an average). However, if you look at his batting average which is almost 50, speaks volumes about his tremendous improvement. The fact is that Jadeja’s current career average of 36 plus is his all-time best average. Unsurprisingly, his three tons and 12 fifties out of 17 has come in the last half decade. In the beginning of his career, Jadeja at best could manage a little cameo here and there as it was witnessed in just two fifty plus scores in his first 30 innings.

“He has been incredible with the bat, especially over the last three years. However, I personally felt that his batting should have come of age a little earlier but better der ayaye lekin durust aaye (better late than never), says Pathan .

It is not the lack of recognition that has bothered Jadeja much throughout his career. In fact, a lesser player would have been hurt that his three triple-centuries in Ranji Trophy (something not even the legends of Indian cricket have managed to do) was more used as a taunt than to hail his batting ability. Even when he became the quickest left-arm bowler to reach 200 Test wickets, not too many people appreciated it enough or acknowledged the feat whole heartedly. Belatedly but appropriately now a lot of critics have started to see Jadeja the Test player through different lenses.

Kapil Dev remains the only all-rounder from India who has got over 5000 runs and has taken over 400 wickets. This may seem a huge target for the 33-year-old Jadeja right now given that he plays in all format besides a two month of rigorous IPL every year, but if he can manage to score over 4000 runs and can get 300 wickets, it won’t be a small achievement too.  After all, no Indian has gone there as yet and if Jadeja manages to accomplish that before he retires, no one will doubt his place as one of the greatest all-rounders from India. And, it won’t matter if he was a spin bowling all-rounder.