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ENG vs IND Tests: Will the real Ravindra Jadeja please stand up?

• Posted on July 2, 2025

Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin was put to an arduous test at Leeds. The final evaluation for his match figures of 47-5-172-1: room for improvement.

The Headingley pitch got drier as the first England-India Test progressed, and the stage was set for Jadeja to utilise the rough outside the left-hander’s off-stump. The last day’s play, however, did not pan out as expected.

Southpaw Ben Duckett (149, 170b) reversed the narrative Indian fans had hoped for by playing the reverse-sweep to perfection against Jadeja, and made sure England chased down the 371-run target without much fuss.

Reverse sweep, under normal circumstances, is not a percentage shot on a wearing day-five pitch. The marauding English batters don’t go by conventional wisdom, though.

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Just the prospect of Duckett unleashing his beloved weapon got Jadeja to err in line and length. It’s another matter that Duckett brought out the audacious shot even when Jadeja found the rough.

Duckett scored 36 runs in 16 balls (both innings) through reverse sweeps against Jadeja, and never once did the ball go in the air uncontrolled. Jadeja will have to come up with some answers to reverse this trend against the English opener.

“I could not believe how poorly he bowled, really. I’d likened it to owning a hammer but punching nails in with your fist instead – not landing the ball in the rough at all until, basically, it was too late. That was extraordinary,” Mark Butcher said on the  Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast.

“You talk about experience, and he has all the experience in the world. Somehow, it didn’t seem to click to him or Rishabh Pant, the ’keeper, that it might be a good idea not to keep missing the rough all day to the left-handers,” he added.

It is not often that a tweaker’s returns come under such scrutiny after a red-ball game in The Old Blighty — a land where swing rules over spin.

There was enough help for Jadeja to work with in Headingley, but he could not deliver the desired results; hence, the finger-pointing at the finger-spinner.

England is in the middle of an uncharacteristically hot summer. The tracks will stay dry (for English standards), and Jadeja will have to step up his game in the forthcoming Tests.

“I am going to be critical of Jadeja. This was a final-day pitch with rough patches for him to exploit. And while there were a couple of chances, we have to expect more from someone of his experience. These weren’t typical English conditions where the pitch offers nothing. I felt he didn’t use the rough nearly enough — especially against Duckett,” Sanjay Manjrekar told  JioHotstar after India’s five-wicket loss.

It has been a while since the premier all-rounder has brought out his iconic celebration after crossing a milestone with the bat and now 36-year-old Jadeja, who is going through a slump with the ball too in the longest format, will look to make amends for his underwhelming show in Headingley. | Source: Sportstar

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