Jadeja Left Out? Gambhir Set to Drop Superstar for IND vs BAN Clash

India has a tough decision to make about their playing XI for the opening ICC Champions Trophy match against Bangladesh. Reports suggest that star player Ravindra Jadeja will not be part of the game. Instead, all-rounder Washington Sundar is likely to take his place. Experts like Piyush Chawla and Mike Hesson believe that picking Jadeja would have been a better choice for Team India.

A day before the match, during India’s practice session, Ravindra Jadeja was seen having a serious discussion with head coach Gautam Gambhir. Star Sports experts believe that Gambhir might have told Jadeja about his exclusion from the game.

India’s Five Spin Options: Who Will Get the Nod?

India has five spinners at its disposal for the ICC match. Two of them Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy are spin specialist bowlers. The other three, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar, are all-rounders who can bat or bowl, depending on what the team wants from them. Considering Bangladesh has three left-hand batsmen, India will likely to choose Washington Sundar for this match.

Jadeja, who retired from T20Is, has been a key player for India in ODIs for 12 years, with Axar Patel being his long-time understudy. Axar missed the World Cup squad when Ravichandran Ashwin was added last-minute, but has since improved in all areas and become India's top left-arm spinner in white-ball cricket. If the choice comes down to Axar or Jadeja, Axar is likely to be preferred for the Champions Trophy opener. Meanwhile, Gambhir, along with Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, favors Sundar, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder.

Bangladesh has several left-handed batters, including their opening pair, Tanzid Hasan and Soumya Sarkar, along with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. Talking about India’s selection, Piyush Chawla shared his thoughts on Star Sports, saying, “There are a lot of left-handers in the Bangladesh playing XI. But these two cricketers have done really well for India. But I think in the first game, they should have gone in with Jadeja and Axar because Kuldeep can take the ball away from the left-handers.”

Meanwhile, former RCB and New Zealand coach Mike Hesson pointed out that Jadeja didn’t look happy after being left out. “He’s (Jadeja) not playing. You can tell from the body language that he’s being told he’s not playing. (Gambhir is saying), ‘That’s my decision. I’ve made it. You may not agree with it but thank you very much. You may go on to play the next one but for the first match, we’re playing the off-spinner,” Hesson said.

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