Ravindra Jadeja 'cut above the rest', says former India fielding coach R Sridhar

Former India fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar lauded all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja‘s abilities on the field, dubbing him the best in the world. Along with Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, Jadeja is one of the fastest and best fielders in Team India’s squad in all three formats. Sridhar praised Jadeja and former captain Mohammad Azharuddin for being among the first to recognise the importance of being a good fielder in the Indian team.

“It is difficult to judge across different eras and fielding judged by different standards. In the ’80s when Ajju bhai (Mohd. Azharuddin’s nickname in Indian cricket) made his debut, there was no fitness culture in Indian cricket,” Sridhar said to Indian news agency PTI.

“It kicked in only in the late 90s and Ajju bhai was a stand-out because of his athleticism and because he had great hands, good throw. Probably the bench-mark was different,” he added.

Also Read – Virat Kohli is still a leader of the team: Rohit Sharma

Sridhar, India’s fielding coach from 2014 to 2021, explained how Jadeja is a cut above the rest on the field for the Indian team and praised Azharuddin for his fielding exploits.

HIGH PRAISE FOR JADEJA

“Jadeja is someone who is pleasing to the eye even when he is chasing a ball to the boundary. He is cut above rest in world cricket. So was Azhar during his time. Azhar of 1985 to 1990 would have been a brilliant fielder even now, whether slips, close-in or being lightning in the outfield,” Sridhar further said.

Jadeja is currently recovering from a “right forearm” injury and has been advised to rest for a month, but that time period may be longer than expected, so he was not named to any of India’s squads for their upcoming tour of South Africa, which begins with a three-Test series on December 26. India will also play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in the rainbow nation beginning January 19 before returning home.

VIRAT KOHLI STILL A LEADER: ROHIT SHARMA

Rohit Sharma was recently appointed as the captain of the Indian ODI and T20I setup, replacing Virat Kohli at the helm. The decision has been a controversial one, considering the lack of clarity over Kohli’s desire to step down from his role as the skipper of the national team for the 50-over format. However, Rohit stated that the legendary Indian cricketer continued to be a “leader” of the team, hailing his ability to deliver the goods with the bat.

“A batter of his quality is always needed in the squad. To have an average of 50-plus in the T20 format, it’s crazy, it’s unreal. Obviously, with the experience he has, he has bailed India out so many times from difficult situations. So that quality and his kind of batsmanship is obviously required, and he is still a leader of the team. All those things put together, you don’t want to miss out, you don’t want to ignore that kind of stuff. His presence in the squad is very, very important moving forward and it can only strengthen our team,” said Rohit during an interaction on Youtube show Backstage with Boria as quoted by Cricinfo.