On a day when Ravindra Jadeja celebrated his surprise elevation as the vice-captain of the Indian Test team with a 11th Player of the Match award, Ravindra Jadeja was forced to swallow the bitter pill of being dropped from the ODI squad for the Australia series starting October 19 in Perth.
The 36-year-old Ravindra Jadeja, who was part of the victorious Champions Trophy squad this February-March and has been in exceptional form with both bat in the five-match Test series in England as well as the opening Test here against the West Indies, was ignored for the trip Down Under, keeping in mind the seam-friendly conditions in Australia.
With fellow left-arm spinning all-rounder Axar Patel — five years younger than Jadeja — now being the premier choice in limited overs along with Kuldeep Yadav, it could well be considered the end of the road for India’s Most Valuable Player in recent years. India have picked Washington Sundar both for the ODI and the ensuing T20I series in Australia as they look to rebuild the team for the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Ajit Agarkar BCCI Chief selector explains the reason of ignoring Ravindra Jadeja for Australian series
The promotion of Shubman Gill to the ODI captaincy, despite Rohit Sharma’s presence in the white-ball squad for the upcoming tour of Australia, was the biggest headline of Saturday’s selection committee meeting. There was another big talking point, too, after chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the ODI and T20I squads. Many were surprised to find the name of Ravindra Jadeja missing from the list.
One of Team India’s most consistent performers at home and abroad over a year and half, Jadeja had retired from T20 Internationals along with Rohit and Virat Kohli after India lifted the T20 World Cup at Bridgetown, Barbados in June 2024. However, the prolific allrounder was available for Tests and ODIs.
Even at 36, Ravindra Jadeja has been outperforming his younger teammates, and was Player of the Match in India’s innings victory in the first Test against the West Indies, scoring an unbeaten century and bagging 4 wickets. Even as he remains a major player in Test matches, is Ravindra Jadeja’s ODI journey over.
Agarkar, however, said that Jadeja was not considered just for this particular series, and instead, Axar Patel was included as the primary spin-bowling allrounder. According to Agarkar, the decision was based on team balance and conditions in Australia, rather than Ravindra Jadeja being out of plans.
“We didn’t want two left-arm spinners in the squad. Jadeja remains very much in our thinking,” Agarkar explained.
Australian tracks traditionally assist pace and bounce more than spin. Both Ravindra Jadeja and Axar in the squad would almost certainly have led to redundancy as both offer left-arm spin and lower-order batting. And with Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar also included, there was no place for a fourth spinner. Though this explanation from Ajit Agarkar did not please Former selector Kris Srikkanth who criticized the management for ignoring Ravindra Jadeja in the white ball series vs Australia.
This is absolutely unfair on Ravindra Jadeja- Kris Srikkanth
Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth lambasted the selectors for excluding star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja from the ODI squad for the upcoming tour of Australia. The 36-year-old was at his miserly best in India’s most recent ODI tournament – the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Ravindra Jadeja bowled a pivotal spell of 1/30 in his 10 overs in the final against New Zealand. Yet, India could only find a place for three spinners, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav, in the ODI squad. Talking about Ravindra Jadeja’s shocking exclusion from the Australian ODIs on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said :
“This is absolutely unfair. Jadeja was the one who actually won you the final. How are you considering Ravindra Jadeja as just a left-arm spinner? He is an all-rounder. They are just making up reasons. How can you drop Ravindra Jadeja? He just blasted a century yesterday. You have picked Dhruv Jurel only because he scored a century yesterday against this horrible West Indies. Jadeja performed in England, and has consistently done well as an all-rounder.”
The former Indian captain also blasted the management for dropping Varun Chakaravarthy from the ODI squad, saying:
“These two just won you the Champions Trophy. Everyone was praising Varun Chakravarthy and he even picked up a five-wicket haul. How can you drop Varun Chakravarthy? He has bowled unbelievably well. We were discussing during the Champions Trophy if Varun Chakravarthy might be the best white-ball spinner in the world. It’s very, very unfair on Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy. This is all just adjustments done by the selectors.”
Varun picked up nine wickets in the 2025 Champions Trophy at an average of 15.11 and an economy of 4.53, playing a key role in India’s wins over Australia and New Zealand in the semi-final and final.Kris Srikkanth questioned wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel’s sudden inclusion in the ODI squad for the Australian series. The 24-year-old has never played an ODI for India, but scored a brilliant century in the first Test against the West Indies a day before the squad announcement.
“For three ODIs, why even have a second wicketkeeper? You are picking Dhruv Jurel based on his century yesterday. Yes, it was a superb knock and I really liked his shots. And he bats courageously as well. I am surprised they didn’t drop KL Rahul. Given half a chance, they ould have dropped him also,” said Srikkanth .
Shubman Gill has won three, lost two, and drawn one out of his six Tests as India captain so far. He will be leading for the first time in ODIs during the Australia tour. Team India’s white-ball tour of Australia will begin with the three ODIs on October 19. They will play five T20Is following the ODI series.
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