Ravindra Jadeja is one of the best left-arm spinners in the country today. The 34-year-old is a versatile cricketer who can play both with the bat and with the ball. The left-handed cricketer has 124 IPL wickets to his name, with an economy rate of 7.59. He also has accumulated more than 2300 runs in 197 games. Jadeja’s batting prowess has improved dramatically in recent years. He’s developed into a terrific lower-order batsman. In the IPL, he has won titles with both CSK and RR. When you add in his incredible fielding, he’s the whole deal.
There is little doubt that Chennai Super Kings will not retain him. He is their most important asset. However, the only catch here could be that the management may look towards the future while curating the team. At 34 years, Jadeja may still be in his prime but may not give comfort to the management in CSK for the future.
They may choose to go for younger talent who they would want to nurture and make a star. In that case, he may not be with the franchise with whom he has had tremendous success. Therefore, today we look at 5 teams where Jaddu can play in case he is not retained by CSK.
1. Ahmedabad Team
The new IPL teams are here and Ahmedabad is one of them. They have been given 3 automatic picks and they would ideally look to go for Jadeja. He is a local superstar. He is a Jamnagar boy and played first-class cricket for Saurashtra. The Ahmedabad franchise would look for a marquee Indian superstar and what better than a world-class all-rounder.
2. Lucknow Team
Every team needs good all-rounders to have a balanced squad. When the Lucknow team management decides on their plans for team building, they will be on the lookout for good all-rounders and Jadeja could be a great fit in their scheme of things. He could be a perfect lower-order finisher and a fantastic left-arm spinner.
3. Rajasthan Royals
One of the perennial problems that have brought down the performance of this team is the lack of quality in its Indian players. Their foreign all-rounders are all the biggest names one could think of like Chris Morris, Ben Stokes, and Jofra Archer. However, Rahul Tewatia and Shreyas Gopal as Rajasthan Royal’s Indian options have failed to perform and deliver. Therefore, if Jaddu comes in, it could bolster their team. It would also be a kind of homecoming for him since he was part of the Rajasthan Royals squad that won the IPL in 2008.
4. Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians heavily depend on their all-rounders to deliver. Their 5 trophies have come at the back of strong all-rounder performances. The Pandya brothers, Pollard, and players like Coulter-Nile add value to the team. However, if the franchise fails to retain and get back the Pandya brothers, they could opt for Ravindra Jadeja.
5. Royal Challengers Bangalore
Bangalore had a decent season this year. They did make it to the playoffs but were unfortunately knocked out in the eliminator. For the job of all-rounders, they depended heavily on Maxwell’s bowling and Dan Christan’s batting. They did put up some good performances but the team was lacking a specialist all-rounder. For the next season, Royal Challengers Bangalore could bring Ravindra Jadeja in to plug this gap.
