INTERVIEW
Follow UsWhen Ravindra Jadeja made his debut, little did anyone forecast that he was going to set the stage on fire for the next decade and more. The first impression of the left-arm spinner was that he was going to rule ‘white-ball cricket’, but the reality was starkly different.
Jadeja has gone on to play Test cricket and rule it so well that he has become the ultimate role model for several budding spinners, notably Ashton Agar and Matthew Kuhnemann.
Since his debut, only three spinners have a better bowling average than Jadeja. Out of the three spinners, only Ravichandran Ashwin has more than 100 Test wickets, showing how difficult it is to maintain consistency. Not just that, Ashwin, one of the greatest spinners in this generation, was ‘envious’ of his inspirational tale.
Over the last three years, specifically in only one tour, Jadeja has averaged more than 30 with the ball (in England), showing his crazy consistency. In the recently concluded series, he was a terror for the Bangladesh batters, picking up nine wickets and sending shivers down the spine of the New Zealand batters, who are to play India next.
But what really sets him apart from all the competition?
Cricket.com caught up with former England spinner Monty Panesar, who still is a terror in many Indian fans’ dreams for his display in England’s 2012 tour of India. Panesar marked Jadeja’s ‘pace’ as a big differentiator.
“Look, firstly, with any spinner, it is the pace. Jadeja bowls quite quickly; he gets the drift and gets a quick spin, which is very difficult to do,” Panesar told Cricket.com from the sidelines of Legends League Cricket.
“A lot of spinners can’t do that. He does it consistently and really well. By getting that quick spin, he gets the ball to drift in and spin quickly, making him deadly."
During his playing days, Panesar himself was one of the pioneers of left-arm spin. He used pace to his advantage, especially during the India tour, where the conditions favoured the two English spinners. Jadeja is of the same ilk, and his modus operandi, too, has been similar, bowling at an average speed of 91 in Test cricket.
Panesar feels that Jadeja's influence on the world of spinners has been profound, citing the example of the Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who has, over the years, increased his pace.
“We both bowl quickly; we both get the ball to turn quickly. That’s our natural stock delivery. We have seen spinners getting quicker with their stock delivery over the years. Someone like Nathan Lyon, over the years, now bowls 58-60 mph,” Panesar cited Lyon’s example.
“What’s changed now is that earlier, they used to say to bowl it slowly, bowl it over the eye line, and now they say what’s the optimum pace you can bowl where you can get the ball to turn. That’s where coaching has changed now, that’s the similarity between Jadeja and me."
As a bowling pair, Ashwin and Jadeja have statistically been the world’s best spin-bowling pair, with 562 wickets in between them while featuring in the playing XI together. Without Jadeja in the XI, Ashwin averages 23.65, which is +1.88.
Similarly for Jadeja as well, his numbers are elevated while bowling alongside Ashwin, with a bowling average of 20.87, 3.87 lower than his career average. Statistically, they are the greatest-ever bowling pair that the game has seen, with an average of 10.22 wickets in every match that they have played together.
What ticks for them as a bowling pair?
“Both Ashwin and Jadeja are brilliant. They complement each other really well, I think they help each other get wickets. They know how to penetrate pressure and how to do well overseas more importantly,” Panesar said.
“But I think it is the left-right combination. That always helps. If one batter struggles against left-arm spin, then Ashwin will keep him on strike for Jadeja. Likewise, the other way as well. That’s the key to their partnership,” he added, comparing this pair to Panesar’s partnership with Swann.
More importantly, however, Panesar feels that the biggest reason why they tick as a bowling pair is because of their ability to think as ‘batters’.
“Because they are all-rounders, they think what the batters are going to do, and that’s why they can get them out cheaply. There’s not a lot of mystery around their spin, the mystery is they are able to predict what the batters are going to do,” he concluded.
‘Jadeja and Ashwin can feature together in England’
Unsurprisingly, the pair have hardly featured together in away conditions, with just nine Tests in total across almost a decade. Only four of those appearances have come in SENA countries, signifying how exclusive the pair has been to Asian conditions.
Why is it that the pair has been neglected in away conditions?
“I think more because the pitches are pacier and bouncier, you probably trying to bowl your quicker Indian bowlers with one spinner. But if you can complement both, Sydney or Adelaide, are the two venues where you will be looking to play the two spinners,” Panesar opened up on the two as a bowling pair.
“Perth or Gabba, where the pitches are bouncier and quicker, you are trying to play the quick bowlers. You don’t want to play two spinners there,” he added.
Despite multiple tours together to England, the pair have only featured once in the same Test, in 2014, when they went wicketless. In the only other game that they played together in England, the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final, they picked up four wickets between them.
“But in England, you can play two spinners because the ball does turn with the Dukes ball. Where there are five matches in England, there’s a good chance of them featuring together,” he added.
In the recently concluded series against Bangladesh, India were in trouble at 144/6 in Chennai, but the duo of Ashwin and Jadeja put on a 199-run partnership to take India to 376. Ashwin scored a century, and Jadeja fell 14 runs short of his triple-figure score.
Panesar cites that example, stating that his pair can also change the complexion of the game.
“What we saw in the first Test against Bangladesh: India were in a spot of bother, but Ashwin-Jadeja got them out of the hole and put on a 150-run partnership that changed the game's complexion and the series. You can see that there will be moments where Jadeja will have moments with the bat, and Ashwin as well. With the ball as well, both of them can be attacking and defensive,” he added.
It is already a well-established fact that Ashwin has stellar numbers against left-handers, but what makes it all incredible is that he averages just 19.4 against the southpaw. The former England left-arm spinner makes a case for the off-spinner to feature against England in England, considering the match-up against both Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes. Both of them have struggled massively against the right-arm off-break bowlers in the past.
“I think it depends on how many left-handers are in the top six and how England looks to play [style of cricket]. You got Ben Duckett at the top of the order, you won’t mind playing Ashwin. There’s Ben Stokes as well, who has struggled against off-spin. Two batters who come out hard against spinners,” he talked about how Ashwin could impact the clash.
“Then you have Zak Crawley, again, a longer strider, he will come hard against Jadeja. With the style England are playing, India might think that let’s just play the two spinners; they will be attacking, and both Ashwin-Jadeja will be in the game.”
New Zealand found themselves in disarray against Prabath Jayasuriya's left-arm spin in their recently concluded series. So, they will have caution on their mind during the India series while approaching Jadeja and Ashwin, the deadly bowling pair.
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