Former India cricketer Sadagoppan Ramesh was highly critical of the selectors for not picking Ravindra Jadeja in the side's squad for the three-match ODI series against Australia that is set to commence from October 19. This comes after the veteran all-rounder gave a match-winning performance in the first Test of the two-match series against West Indies at Ahmedabad.
Ramesh questioned if the selectors will only pick Jadeja when they are in need of an extra spinner. He further pointed out how they rewarded Gill for his brilliant performance in England Tests and made him the ODI captain, but didn't reward Jadeja for his fine display with the bat in the exact same series.
"The selector is saying because we took extra spinners for the Champions Trophy Jadeja was in the team. Is he some extra baggage? He's a white-ball legend. Will you pick Jadeja in the team only when you need extras? The standard answer you give for appointing Shubman Gill as the T20I vice-captain and ODI captain is his performance in England. In that same England series, Jadeja also shone," Ramesh said on his YouTube channel.
"Jadeja has also just scored a century and picked up four wickets in the first West Indies Test. You've rewarded Dhruv Jurel with an ODI selection for scoring a 100 against the same West Indies. So, they reward Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel but wave goodbye to Jadeja," he added.
India's squad for Australia ODIs: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Jameja continues stellar form in red-ball cricket
Notably, Jadeja's last appearance in the ODI format came in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final where India battled it out against New Zealand. The only format where Jadeja is a regular member of the Indian team is Test cricket. He was the star performer for the Men in Blue in the match against West Indies as not only did he score a century, but also took four wickets in the opposition's second innings as the hosts bundled out the Windies for just 146 and won the match by an innings and 140 runs.
When will the 2nd India-West Indies Test begin?
Jadeja is highly likely to feature in the second and final match of the Test series against West Indies that is set to commence from October 10 at the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi.