India vs England: Ravindra Jadeja's Poor Batting Angers Sourav Ganguly

Ravindra Jadeja made a hash of his return to international cricket playing a poor stroke to add to India's batting woes in a crucial tri-nation match against England at Perth on Friday. Jadeja's approach in an important game angered former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who said the team management should demand an explanation for the stroke the Saurashtra all-rounder played. (Perth ODI scorecard | Updates)

Jadeja, out of international cricket since November last year due to an injury, is a key figure in India's ODI gameplan but he did no justice to that position when he threw his wicket away at a time India would have liked him to hold fort.

Within three balls of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's exit, Jadeja rushed out to England pacer Stuart Broad, and with no clue where the ball was, only managed to hole out to Steven Finn at short mid-wicket. India crashed to 164 for eight wickets at Jadeja's exit but the lack of responsibility in a young man with the experience of 110 ODIs was unacceptable.

"He should be asked as to why he played that stroke. It doesn't help the team when you play such loose strokes at a time when Jadeja should have batted on. There were still seven overs to go," Ganguly said on TV. India's middle-order batting looked in tatters even after Ajinkya Rahane (73) and Shikhar Dhawan (38) put on 83 for the first wicket. This was the first time India hadn't lost a wicket in the first 10 overs.

India lost eight wickets for 62 runs and were eventually all out for 200, thanks to a cameo (18-ball 25) by No. 11 Mohammed Shami . "Doesn't look to be a good enough total," said Ganguly, expressing his unhappiness at Jadeja's poor attitude in a big game.

"He should learn to play these matches more responsibly. Only then he is a good cricketer," Ganguly said, adding: "After Dhoni's exit, he had some work to do, but failed. He is someone who can bat...an another 20 runs would have made a big difference at the WACA. You have fight for the runs and not swing your bat like that." But this has been a problem with Indian cricket. In recent times, the team hasn't turned up on the big days. India open their World Cup campaign against Pakistan at Adelaide.