'It Annoyed Me': Stuart Broad's Candid Verdict On Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja will be back in action for the Indian cricket team in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka
- Ravindra Jadeja will play in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka
- Jadeja has retired from T20Is but remains key in India's Test team
- Stuart Broad was annoyed by Jadeja's sword celebration after fifties
Ravindra Jadeja will be back in action for the Indian cricket team in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka. When Ravichandran Ashwin was an active player for India, his partnership with Jadeja was legendary. Together, they won many matches for India. Now, Jadeja has retired from T20Is, and whether he is in India's long-term plans for ODIs remains unclear. In Tests, however, Jadeja continues to be a force. Stuart Broad played against Ravindra Jadeja for a long time and has admitted that he was "annoyed" by one of the all-rounder's habits.
Jadeja has a habit of performing his trademark sword celebration after scoring a fifty or a century.
"His celebration used to annoy me a bit, like, what's this guy waving his bat around for a 50? I remember saying to him on a few occasions that batters actually average 50 and that you are carrying on like this. It's flair, but I would have saved it for a hundred," Broad said on the For the Love of Cricket podcast ahead of the first India vs Sri Lanka Test in Galle.
"His numbers are phenomenal, to the point where they never knew whether to play him or Ravi Ashwin in England. That's a testament to Jadeja," added Broad.
Jos Buttler, who was part of the same podcast, described Jadeja as a "nightmare".
"He is a nightmare to face, especially in India. With him, I think about moments, and he's a proper gutsy player. With his batting, especially when the game was tight, he always seemed to stand up. When his team needed runs, he could do it. He had a bit of a hybrid role as well, where sometimes he would come out at No. 5 with the ball swinging around. He's an underrated batter in a funny way," said Buttler.
India's squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka is: Shubman Gill (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, and Auqib Nabi.
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team
Ravindra Jadeja
Stuart Broad