‘Ravindra Jadeja gives nightmares to opposition batters’: Ravi Shastri rates current crop of spinners among India’s best XI of all-time

New Delhi : Former India coach Ravi Shastri was full of praise for current front-line spinners and believes that Ravichandran Ashwin easily fit in India’s best XI of all-time, adding that Ravindra Jadeja is on track to stake a similar claim.

Ashwin has already claimed 463 Test wickets during his illustrious 12-year international career and Shastri has no doubt the right-armer belongs in the top echelon of the best India spinners of all-time.

“I never compare eras, but the record that he (Ashwin) has – especially in Indian conditions – would make him a favourite to get into that (all-time XI) squad,” Shastri said in the episode of The ICC Review.

“In Indian conditions he’s something else. I mean, you’ve seen some great spinners in the past. He’s right up there. And the fact that he can get you runs at crucial stages makes all the difference.”
Shastri also believes Jadeja could join Ashwin in the conversation for a place in India’s all-time XI if the 34-year-old can continue his recent good form with both bat and ball.

The left-arm all-rounder was brilliant with both bat and ball in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy, bagging a fifer and scoring a gritty half-century in Nagpur followed by the best bowling figure of his career (7/42) in the second innings of the Delhi Test against Australia.

“He (Jadeja) will start to get the credit (he deserves) now. There’s no question about it. The last year, year-and-a-half, he’s been simply outstanding because he’s realised his potential.
“He gives you nothing and it’s a nightmare (for opposition batters). Especially if you’re not in good form, and you are in the opposition as a batsman, you’ll have nightmares.

You’ll have Jadeja in your dreams because the guy gives you nothing. The former great further stated that the left-arm all-rounder becomes even more dangerous than Ashwin when the conditions match his skillset.

“If it’s a track where the ball is up and down, he can be even more dangerous than Ashwin. Ashwin anyway has the guy (with his) skill. But here, this guy (Jadeja) can have you on edge because one ball will skip through, one ball will turn, and he gives you nothing. His accuracy is so good that there are hardly any loose balls on offer,” Shastri said.