World Cup 2019: 5 reasons why Ravindra Jadeja should be in India's playing XI 

#3 Improvement as a batsman

Jadeja's performances have been good with the bat this year

As an Indian fan when you think about Jadeja’s batting, the first thing that would come to your mind is the 2009 T20 world cup match against England. With India chasing a mediocre target, Jadeja was promoted to number four ahead of an in-form Yuvraj Singh, for reasons best known to MS Dhoni.

What transpired was a frustrating and at times painful 35-ball 25. India went on to lose the match by 3 runs and Jadeja became a laughing stock on social media. However, the 2009 Ravindra Jadeja and 2019 Ravindra Jadeja can be viewed as stark contrasts.

The improvement in Jadeja’s batting has been immense. In his last 10 test innings, he has two eighties and a hundred at an average of 53. In the recently concluded Indian Premier League, he had an average of 35 in the limited opportunities that he got and was striking at 120.

As he showed in the practice games, he could be the perfect foil for Hardik Pandya during the latter half of the innings with a mix of patience and assurance. Also, with Shikhar Dhawan being the only other left-hander, including Jadeja will give some much-needed variety to the Indian batting order.