India’s Test veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s place in the playing XI is not yet confirmed due to the emergence of new spinners, but he still gives the bowling department of India a sense of strength.
Cricket news: We have more experience than the previous times and hence we will dominate, says Jadeja
The 29-year-old left-arm spinner recently conversed with ESPNCricinfo ahead of the first Test match which will begin from August 1 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
During the interview Jadeja said that India has a better chance of winning the series this time than they had while they played during the 2014 series.
“If you see, most players in our team have played a minimum of 25-30 Test matches. Experience counts in Test cricket,” Jadeja said.
Besides praising the bowling department of England, Jadeja has also said that the team which toured in 2014 was not much experienced.
“We had no prior experience on English wickets, its conditions. Now we are more experienced in those aspects and since we have played a fair bit of Test cricket, I think this time we can dominate them, let alone just fight in the series.”
When he was asked if the performance in South Africa earlier this year have boosted the team’s confidence, Jadeja said that they have a very good fast bowling attack department and they are surely going to dominate the series.
When asked if the rise of the pacers have put some pressure on the spinners, Jadeja said that the choice of the bowlers and the team combinations are decided after seeing the conditions of the pitch.
“It is not that the ball doesn’t spin in England. We have seen in the past that it does. So the team combination is decided particularly after seeing which bowler will be effective,” he said.
Given the recent warm weather conditions in England, Jadeja was asked if there is a possibility of playing two left-arm spinners in the team, to which he replied, “Anything is possible. Kuldeep (Yadav) has done well in the past and it gives India more options. Unlike many other teams that struggle to find replacements after a top fast bowler or spinner retires, we have everything now. That makes me convinced that if there is any team at the moment which can beat England in their own den, it is India.”
When asked to give any message for England, he simply laughed, and when asked for any special message for James Anderson, he said, “He is my friend now.”
Jadeja has played 37 Tests for India where he has taken 171 wickets so far, among which 38 wickets he has taken against England.
Here is the full video of the interview: