Kedar Jadhav will be effective in Tests too: Surendra Bhave

Indian middle order batsman Kedar Jadhav scored 40 and 24 in the last two ODIs against Australia. The 32-year old got starts in both the games but failed to convert them into big ones. Jadhav is no stranger to converting his fifties into hundreds, the batsman has 13 hundreds out of the 32 times he has crossed fifty in FC cricket.

The Indian middle-order batsman made an impact against England in the limited overs series, earlier this year. India have taken a 2-0 lead over Australia in the 5-match series but the middle order needs to come good, going into the remaining encounters.

Former national selector Surendra Bhave, who was also a reputed Maharashtra batsman spoke about Jadhav’s current inability to convert good starts. “One of the major factors (behind Kedar’s recent failures) would be getting used to the idea that you’ve 100 deliveries at your disposal and not 20 or 30. If he’s going to bat at that number, there’s a likelihood that he’s going to get a decent knock which is worth 90-100 balls. That’s something he’s working on right now – even that 40 against Australia in the series opener was a very refreshing start and it started setting up the game for us after which Hardik Pandya and Dhoni turned it into a match-winning total, ” Bhave told Sportsar.

He said “The rearguard action started with Kedar, that way I’m glad he’s able to deliver. Even on a dodgy wicket like the one at Eden Gardens – maybe it was a little two-paced – he looked very comfortable; however, he seems to be getting out abruptly.”

“I think focusing on a shorter format is an individual conditioning. If your fitness allows you to play all three formats, then age shouldn’t be a criterion. You’ve to be mentally attuned to play certain formats of the game. And I strongly believe Kedar will be as effective in Tests as he’s in 50-over and Twenty20 cricket. That’s my personal belief.” he added.

Kedar is a gem: Bhave

On his skill, Bhave said”You can have a look at his first-class record since 2008-09. He has actually played some cameos and even has a triple-hundred,” he said before reminiscing, “He played that absolute gem against Mumbai at the Wankhede stadium to win Maharashtra the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal in 2014, which wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination a simple thing to do. The ball was darting around for all four days and Zaheer Khan was bowling unbelievably well.