Dinesh Karthik, a former Indian cricketer, was critical of Ravindra Jadeja’s lines during the just finished first Test between England and India. Karthik believed Jadeja should have taken use of the rough parts on the Headingley pitch more to get the most out of the surface, which had nothing extra for spinners.
He also praised the way Ben Duckett experimented with Ravindra Jadeja and skipper Shubman Gill’s tactics to prevent the flow of runs.
Duckett scored 38 runs off as many balls as he faced Jadeja in the second innings, allowing him to keep the runs coming thick and fast, not only helping the team’s cause but also scoring a stunning 149, earning him Player of the Match.
“He (Jadeja) was bowling straight rather than into the rough, which perplexes me because a man with so much experience must understand what it means to bowl in the rough. He should have gone wide of the wicket and bowled into the rough. Today, Duckett demonstrated pure dominance in the most brilliant way possible. “The way he just played with Jadeja and Shubman Gill, saying no matter where you put the pitch, I’m going to play that shot,” Karthik said while speaking.
Shardul and Prasidh bowled inconsistent lengths: Dinesh Karthik
The former cricketer and analyst was frank in his evaluation of India’s current pace battery. He thought that Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna failed to build on the performances of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, resulting in a paucity of wickets and a loss of control over the game.
“I don’t believe we have the skill set beyond a few bowlers who can make breakthroughs; that is a truth. You can’t be too hard on the Indian team; they’ll find bowlers eventually and begin defending these scores. Bumrah and Siraj bowled a high-quality first stint; they did not take a wicket, but they laid the groundwork. Shardul and Prasidh did not bowl regular lengths; it was all over the place,” he explained.
India ended up losing the game by five wickets at the end. Speaking of Jadeja’s performance in particular, it was just the second time in his Test career that he was able to scalp only one wicket across both innings of a Test despite bowling 20-plus overs in each of the innings. The first instance was the Ahmedabad Test against Australia in March 2023.
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