CricAddict
Cricketer Of The Year
I do believe that there would have been others as well who would have tried to get a better IPL contract with the other franchises, but it hasn't come out in the open. Anyways, we are not talking about IPL here. It is about test cricket for India. He is suited more for tests than T20Is.Plenty of Indian prospects, current players and rejects, value the India cap. That includes Sanjay Bangar and Yusuf Pathan. Not Jadeja, who tried to use his India cap to bargain for a bigger IPL contract. This bloke was given loads of chances, and an unquestioned place in the national side, compared to the number of times Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan and Amit Mishra have been in and out of the side. He is still used with protection, in timing as well as field setting- you'll never see him facing two set batsmen, or bowling with a new ball, or closing the innings. Not different from your usual part-timer. Guess what, the part-timers are good enough for the top six.
Yusuf Pathan won the Duleep Trophy with a double century. Nobody noticed. Yusuf Pathan scored a 150 and took ten wickets in a match. Nobody noticed. Yusuf Pathan's century in an ODI changed that ODI and India won. Once more. Still, twice over, nobody noticed. Ashwin has a Test average of 42 with the bat. Nobody seems to notice.
While Jadeja's two triple centuries are a significant achievement, that doesn't suggest he can win matches for India, or even make a difference in the Indian side. Rather, you now know how cheap runs can get in that area. Instead, we need to encourage the likes of Pankaj Singh, Parvinder Awana, Sandeep Sharma, Bhuv Kumar and Rishi Dhawan, who are getting plenty of wickets, and can make a difference in the national side.
Express pacers make a difference. All-rounders who are strike bowlers make a difference. Batsmen scoring runs in difficult conditions (Delhi, Ghaziabad, Lahli) make a difference. Not two triple centuries in Gujarat and little outside of that- at least JJ Singh, Paras Dogra and Yashpal Singh get runs regularly.
Except for Rohit and Yusuf, the others you have mentioned have got lots of chances at test level but have failed while Jadeja has got a chance only now. So, I don't think that argument holds water.
Regarding protection, everyone in the team has his own role. It can be the case that Ashwin can bowl well with the new ball and hence opens the innings few times while Jadeja is better suited to bowl in the middle overs.
At the same time that he makes triple centuries and other high scores for fun, he is taking loads of wickets as well and is now in the list of top wicket takers this season. How do you define that? Does the pitch suddenly turn into a minefield instead of a cheap runs pitch? I dont say that he is a Sobers as well. Just that its worth giving him a shot in tests, which is what he has got now.