Should Ravindra Jadeja be tried in Test cricket at Home

[BeautifulGame]

Ever since Kumble retired we have heavily relied on fast bowlers to take 20 wkts even in India and that work load has caused a lot of injuries to our bowlers(Like Zaheer Ishant) .So i think Jadeja should be given a chance as an all rounder in test cricket too so that we can play 5 bowlers IMHO. Now i am not suggesting he should be a regular test player for us in every condition.But in India when the wickets are flat and bowlers are over worked (Particularly Fast bowlers ) to take 20 wkts wouldnt it make sense to play with 5 bowlers to reduce their work load and take 20 wkts more easily. We should promote Dhoni to bat at 6 in India where he is as good as any batsman and Jadeja should play at No.7 spot.By this way we can play 3 fast bowlers in future and nurture the work load of the likes of Aaron Yadav and Ishant better and may even prolong Zaheer's career.This could even help them bowl in short spells and bowl at full speed rather than being exhausted if played in a 4 man attack. Now before any one saying Jadeja is a one day bowler and not good enough for test cricket i dont agree with this.His FC record isnt that inferior to Ohja (who is the preferred 2nd spinner in India ) and its not like our 2nd spinners run through batsmen ever since Kumble retired. Dhoni often used Ohja as a containing bowler to frustrate opposition batsmen and jadeja is easily better at this option imo.Also when the ball turns he is always a threatening bowler too.And his batting record isnt that bad either averaging well over 40 in FC cricket I am not saying he should be a regular for away tests mainly because 1) Dhoni isnt good enough to be a no.6 away from home 2)Pitches are conducive to bowlers often 4 bowlers are enough (regardless of the debacle in England. But at home where our top 6 is superior to any line up in world cricket playing Jadeja at 7 will win us more matches than playing any other batmen like Kohli or Rohit Sharma and just 4 bowlers. Your opinions?

Edited March 8, 2017 by laaloo

[Yoda-esque]

No.He might well be useful at home but the idea is to develop a team successful under all conditions.So we will be just wasting another place.

[The Dark Horse]

For that, I think he needs to improve his bowling.

[BeautifulGame]

No.He might well be useful at home but the idea is to develop a team successful under all conditions.So we will be just wasting another place.

But surely managing the workload of our fast bowlers by playing 5 bowlers is the best way to win test series away from home too? Also even then we exactly dont play the same team home and away.We play 2 spinners + 2 Pacers at home and 3 P + 1 S away from home.So whats wrong with replacing the batsmen with Jadeja rather than replacing a spinner depending on conditions.Either way we dont play the same team in all conditions so surely playing the team that gives us the best option of winning depending on conditions is the best way for ward for us.

[punjabi_khota]

[Sachinism]

[ganeshran]

Test cricket for Jaddu :hysterical: He will suck at home too. His bowling wont pick wickets in tests neither willl he have the patience to sweat it out.

[BeautifulGame]

For that' date=' I think he needs to improve his bowling.[/quote'] But our 2nd choice spinner Ohja is hardly running through teams either is he? Dhoni often uses him as a contain and frustrate opposition batsmen in flat wickets at home.Surely Jadeja is far better at that.And his FC bowling record isnt that bad either ave. 29 in our flat wkts. As i mentioned in the OP we anyway relayed on Fast bowlers mostly to take 20 wkts even at home.So surely playing 3 fast bowlers with Jadeja gives us far better chance of taking wkts than playing with 4 bowlers?

[Trichromatic]

Is he good enough as a spinner to play the role of 2nd wicket taking spinner on turning tracks? :hmmm:

[Cricket Tragic]

:WTF:

[saneindian]

Not good enough to be a test match player yet. But who knows if he improves his bowling a bit, he could grab a test spot in the future. or if he establishes himself as an ODI all rounder in the next 2-3 years, could open up a test spot for him.

[Number]

He is good bowler for ODIs , but for tests he needs to develop more variations. Also just because Raina failed to score at no. 6 doesn't mean we should compromise with that place. We must find a good solid no. 6 batsman. So let him cement his place in ODIs first , only after that he should be considered for tests.

[The Dark Horse]

Ojha, Ashwin are ahead of him- one of them may cement a spot in the test team and who knows if Harby doesn't do that well it may make way for Jaddu in tests as well :cantstop:

[BeautifulGame]

Test cricket for Jaddu :hysterical: He will suck at home too. His bowling wont pick wickets in tests neither willl he have the patience to sweat it out.

Well its not like Ohja is taking bucket load of wickets.As i said Dhoni uses Ohja more as a containing bowler and with only 4 bowlers playing this causes too much workload for our fast bowlers. I am not saying Jadeja is going to run though wickets either.But him playing gives us the luxury of playing 5 bowlers which means our attack will be over all more threatening and he is certainly capable of containing and taking the odd wickets as his FC record and ODI performances shows.

[BeautifulGame]

He is good bowler for ODIs , but for tests he needs to develop more variations. Also just because Raina failed to score at no. 6 doesn't mean we should compromise with that place. We must find a good solid no. 6 batsman. So let him cement his place in ODIs first , only after that he should be considered for tests.

6 top class batsmen is more than enough for us in flat wkts.And Jadeja's FC batting record isnt shabby either ave over 40 and has few big hundreds to his name. We struggle to 20 wkts more often than put up big scores in India.So playing 5 bowlers gives us more chances of winning than playing 7 batsmen( including Dhoni ) imho.Also with this we can maintain the work load of our young pacers which will benifit us in away tours too.

[saneindian]

Well its not like Ohja is taking bucket load of wickets.As i said Dhoni uses Ohja more as a containing bowler and with only 4 bowlers playing this causes too much workload for our fast bowlers. I am not saying Jadeja is going to run though wickets either.But him playing gives us the luxury of playing 5 bowlers which means our attack will be over all more threatening and he is certainly capable of containing and taking the odd wickets as his FC record and ODI performances shows.

Ojha has 42 wickets in 11 tests, all played on the flattest of roads. If you expect your young spinner to run through batting sides on those pitches, problem is with your expectations.

[Blue Panther]

Nope, let him earn his place in tests by performing in domestic matches.

[cricket_usa]

How is Jadeja even in ODI team? He reminds me of Agarkar, for some reason these half azz players make it in the team.

[zep1706]

A big no. I would like to see Ojha in the test side.

[BeautifulGame]

Ojha has 42 wickets in 11 tests' date=' all played on the flattest of roads. If you expect your young spinner to run through batting sides on those pitches, problem is with your expectations.[/quote'] Exactly my point.We struglle to bowl teams out with 4 bowlers and Ojha struggles to take much wickets in these flat wkts.We have unfortunately have to use Ohja as a containing bowler and depend on fast bowlers to take 20 wkts often even if it isnt his fault. Now we arent going to suddenly change flat wickets into bowling pitches so surely the best way forward is to play 5 bowlers which gives us the better option of taking 20 wkts quickly in these flat pitches. Also since Ohja is used more as a containing bowler jadeja can perform this role as good if not better and with 3 fast bowlers we will be much better off. Now i am not saying ohja 's performances are at fault but unfortunately these are batting paradises we often play.So we should be looking for a better balanced attack which can take 20 wickets quickly and playing Jadeja and 4 other bowlers(Thus 5 man attack) gives us better chance of that than only Ohja and 4 man attack.