Ravindra Jadeja's presence will make a difference says Heath Streak

Gujarat Lions have struggled with their bowling this season so far. A bowling attack which was one of the fiercest attacks last season has been its shadow this year. Heath Streak, the former Zimbabwean fast bowler and the bowling coach of Gujarat Lions thinks that the Ravindra Jadeja’s absence had a lot to do with the form.

The former Zimbabwean skipper thinks that the balance of their team and the bowling attack was disturbed as the Indian superstar was ruled out for the initial stage of the tournament. Heath said that his more than good batting skills and accurate bowling brings another dimension to the team and it was dearly missed by them. Ravindra Jadeja was phenomenal for them last season and this season in his absence his team is finding it hard to win.

“I think Jadeja’s absence affected in a big way in terms of the balance of our team, but now he has come into the team and we can look forward to other bowling options. Jadeja is very handy with the bat in the lower order and his presence will give us to go with an extra bowler,” Heath said while talking to a bunch of reporters.

Gujarat Lions lost the first match by 10 wickets while defending an 180 plus score and were comprehensively defeated by Sunrisers Hyderabad by 9 wickets. Having taken only one wicket in the tournament, Lions are struggling with the bowling combinations.

Heath agreed to the dismal performance this year and said that his bowlers have not been themselves recently and are yet to rise to the occasion. The Zimbabwean said, “Definitely, we haven’t bowled well in the first two games compared to last season. We have same bowlers who had played for us last year and done well but this time our bowlers have not clicked so far.”

The two all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo have been terribly missed by the Lions. With Jadeja now back in the squad, Heath and Gujarat will try and build on that. He said, “Without Jadeja, without Bravo, the two key players for us, the two experience players’ absence has disturbed the balance of our side in last two matches. Now Jadeja has come back into the team and possibly Bravo would come back in a week or so, but definitely, we are looking forward to do well in bowling.”

“He (Jadeja) is flamboyant and his presence will make a difference. He is a good batsman and batting really well, so his inclusion will give us a choice to go with other options,” he further added.

Heath talked about many good overseas players having to sit out the first few games as the teams try and find the best combination as he went on to praise his overseas players and their performances with the bat.

The Gujarat coach said, “All four overseas batsmen have done well for us and it’s not an easy decision to exclude anyone of the four for the inclusion of overseas bowlers. It’s very tough to call but many internationals players have not got a chance in the playing eleven and have to sit out in the various teams.”