According to the latest reports, Ravindra Jadeja will miss next month’s tour of Bangladesh, which comprises 3 ODIs and 2 Tests that are crucial for the World Test Championship.
Jadeja has been out of action since suffering a leg injury during the Asia Cup in Dubai, and consequently missed the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia where India were knocked out in the semi-final.
Even though the BCCI had named him in the squad for the Bangladesh tour, his availability was always going to be conditional, based on his fitness and recovery.
The BCCI will now have to name a replacement for Ravindra Jadeja in the squad. In the original squad, apart from Jadeja, the other spinners are Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav. So, whoever will be Jadeja’s replacement in the squad need not be a starter in the XI, but should be a ready for Test cricket, whether it is a batsman, all-rounder, or a bowler.
Here are 3 good options to replace the injured Ravindra Jadeja for the Bangladesh tour:
Saurabh Kumar
29-year-old Saurabh Kumar is a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja – a left-arm spinning all-rounder. The Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner had received his maiden India call-up for the 2 Tests against Sri Lanka earlier this year, but couldn’t get a debut.
Saurabh Kumar has taken 222 wickets in 52 first-class matches at an impressive average of 24 along with 17 five-wicket hauls and 11 four-wicket hauls and he has snapped up 10 wickets 6 times in first-class cricket.
The southpaw has a good batting record too: he averages 29 in first-class cricket and has 12 fifty-plus scores, two of which are centuries. In the Ranji Trophy earlier in the year, he took 14 wickets in 3 games, helping UP reach the semis. It feels that Saurabh Kumar would be the name on top of the head of the selectors when they sit to finalize Jadeja’s replacement.
Shahbaz Ahmed
The other renowned left-handed spin-bowling all-rounder that could replace Jadeja is Bengal’s Shahbaz Ahmed. In fact, ESPNcricinfo has reported that Shahbaz Ahmed “is likely to be named as Jadeja’s replacement for the ODI series” and hence could also be added into the Test squad.
The 27-year-old has terrific numbers in first-class cricket for an all-rounder: 62 wickets in 19 FC matches at a brilliant average of 19 with 3 five-fors and 3 four-fors and a 10-wicket match haul; with the bat, the left-hander averages 42, having struck 8 fifties and a century in red-ball domestic cricket.
Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav has been on the fringe of the Test squad – he was called up later on the England tour last year and then was on the bench against New Zealand in the home series as Shreyas Iyer made his debut, hit a century and sealed his spot.
Although Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t played red-ball cricket since February 2020 – he got into the Indian white-ball sides in early 2021 and missed domestic cricket – Yadav’s current sensational form could make the selectors ponder if he can carry it into Test cricket too; something like how England have transformed their Test side with aggressive batting, taking the attack to the opposition bowlers under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
For the unversed, Suryakumar Yadav has experience of a decade in red-ball cricket, and has played 77 first-class matches, wherein he averages 44, having notched up 14 centuries and 26 fifties.
