How slow and steady Ravindra Jadeja is losing CSK the race | SK StatPad

As Ravindra Jadeja crawled his way to 31 with a fortuitous last-ball boundary off a misfield in CSK's latest outing against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), a staggering stat alert popped up that read - 'Ravindra Jadeja's first 30+ score in the IPL since 2021.'

It had fans scratching their heads and wondering about a possible inadvertent error. After all, the hysteria of the 'Rockstar' helping CSK to their fifth IPL title last season with a miraculous boundary and a maximum from the final two balls in the summit clash against GT remains fresh as a daisy.

With 10 runs needed off the final two deliveries, even the staunchest CSK fan had all but given up hope until Jadeja snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The winning shot had even the usually saint-like MS Dhoni jumping in joy like a five-year-old.

However, keep in mind that Jadeja was five off four deliveries before those two magnificent hits as we cut to the present and look at his waning finishing skills, a largely unspoken aspect of CSK's recent two-game debacle.

The back-to-back defeats to Delhi Capitals (DC) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) have been mostly attributed to shoddy bowling, lackadaisical fielding, and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad's slow starts with the bat.

However, a deep dive into Ravindra Jadeja's batting vigil in both outings paints a sorry picture that should have CSK fans lurking in trepidation.

From being lifted after the IPL 2023 finale to being 'denied Strike' by MS Dhoni

That 'Sports is a great leveler' springs to mind when we think of the same MS Dhoni who lifted Ravindra Jadeja in joy after last year's grand finale, being resorted to denying him the strike this season.

Despite a slightly scratchy 25* off 17 in CSK's IPL 2024 season opener against RCB, Jadeja's struggles to produce big hits were camouflaged by the positive result of a win.

While not much could be derived from a three-ball seven in the following game against GT, the two outings since have been glaringly worrying for Jadeja 'the finisher'. Coming in at No.7 with 90 needed off 38 against DC, the 35-year-old crawled to 21* from 17 deliveries in CSK's first defeat of the season.

Jadeja's struggles were so pronounced that 42-year-old MS Dhoni, with no competitive cricket behind him since the last IPL, had to deny him the strike in the penultimate over of the contest.

With only two boundaries in 17 balls, the southpaw struggled to even get full-tosses away, scoring only five runs from as many deliveries. Yet, brushing it aside as a blip or analyzing a possible trend depended on his performance in the following encounter against SRH.

Pat Cummins withdrawing his appeal against Jadeja raises 'scary' questions

When have we ever known an Australian captain to withdraw an appeal against a potentially match-winning batter? Yet, Pat Cummins did just that against a well-set Ravindra Jadeja in the penultimate over of CSK's latest defeat against SRH.

The CSK all-rounder entered the crease, looking to make amends for his painstaking knock against DC, in the 14th over of the innings. However, the struggles continued as Jadeja was peppered with a series of slower short deliveries outside off-stump, leaving him befuddled.

After striking a boundary off his third delivery, the southpaw played another laborious innings the rest of the way, finishing on 31* off 23 despite a bonus final-ball four off a misfield. Yet, the moment of concern came in the 19th over when Jadeja got in the way of a throw from the bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

While the umpires decided to take matters upstairs to the third umpire for a possible 'Obstructing the field', Cummins immediately withdrew his appeal.

It had former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif wondering if the SRH skipper had intentionally done the same to keep Jadeja at the crease and prevent Dhoni from coming in.

"Two questions to Pat Cummins on withdrawing the obstructing the field appeal against Jadeja. Was it a tactical call to let a struggling Jadeja be the crease and keep Dhoni indoors? Would he have done the same if it was Virat Kohli at World T20?" tweeted Kaif.

Can you imagine an opposition captain withdrawing an appeal against Heinrich Klaasen, Suryakumar Yadav, or Andre Russell?

Although Cummins was applauded for fair play, it raises the uncomfortable question if you are a CSK fan of Jadeja becoming a potential liability to the side in the slog overs. That said, any such claim holds no truth minus contextualizing further with a bigger sample size.

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Ravindra Jadeja's dwindling skills at the death overs in the IPL - Truth or Myth?

Coming to any conclusion without concrete statistical evidence is more myth and less truth. And it is only fair we look at a few telling impact numbers on Jadeja's finishing skills this season with comparisons to the past.

For starters, here is a glance over the 'finishers' from other teams in this IPL and their strike rates compared to Jadeja's at the final phase of the innings.

Ravindra Jadeja has yet to hit a single maximum in the final five overs of IPL 2024. (Credit: Cricinfo)

The most obvious revelation from the above graphic is Andre Russell, Heinrich Klaasen, Rinku Singh, and Dinesh Karthik's fearsome strike rates of over 200, as Jadeja looks from the outside of the top 15 so far this season.

Although a strike rate of 143.20 looks impressive in isolation, think of it as 14 off 10 deliveries, and it makes for a poor reading in the final overs of an innings. Furthermore, Jadeja is the only batter on the list with no maximums among those to have faced at least 20 deliveries in that phase.

In an era dominated by power-hitting, the 35-year-old has faced 37 balls from overs 15 to 20 without clearing the boundary once. It is no secret that six-hitting and strike rates are connected, and Jadeja has lacked massively in both areas in IPL 2024.

The lack of a power game with limitations range-wise has hindered the left-hander, with the opposition able to set fields and bowl outside his hitting arc.

Jadeja's boundary-hitting ability has dipped massively this season. (Credit: Cricinfo Cricmetric)

After a sub-par 2019 IPL season, Jadeja enjoyed a dream run as a finisher the following two years in 2020 and 2021. However, the strike rates have since dropped year-on-year with a staggering increase in deliveries per boundary this season, raising alarm bells.

From striking a boundary or a maximum of every 3-4 deliveries in 2020 and 2021, the ratio is now 7.40 for Jadeja. It means the southpaw takes almost 7-8 deliveries between a four or a six in the final five overs when batters usually smash the cherry for fun at will.

Jadeja's finishing form has directly impacted CSK's fortunes over the years. (Credit: Cricinfo Cricmetric)

How has Jadeja's finishing abilities impacted CSK's fortunes in the last four seasons?

The proof is in the pudding as the above numbers are self-explanatory in more ways than one should we draw parallels between Jadeja's strike rates as a finisher and the side's overall performances.

In their title runs in 2021 and 2023, the veteran all-rounder struck it at a rate of 228.9 and 155.9 in wins but only 147.1 and 138.5 in defeats. 2022 can almost be considered an anomaly, given Jadeja's struggles with balancing captaincy and his performances for most of the season.

But the most eye-popping numbers are his strike rates of 207.1 and 166.7 while chasing in their two title-clinching seasons in 2021 and 2023. And the strike rate of under 119 in run-chases in CSK's dismal 2022 campaign.

CSK fans will hope for the trend not to continue as Jadeja is striking it at just 129.4 in run-chases this season, a number that does not augur well for their chances of a record sixth title.

Almost all the crucial numbers, as a standalone or in comparison with contemporaries, indicate a considerable dip in Jadeja's finishing skills with time. The impact his batting in the final overs has on CSK's odds makes it further worrying for the franchise as they look to get out of the two-game losing streak.

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Connecting the dots: How India's Ravindra Jadeja could be impacting the 'IPL Rockstar'

The art of batting almost often turns into a mental battle between being circumspect to meet expectations and playing with freedom.

For most of his career, Jadeja was a spinner who could add bonus runs in all formats of international cricket and the IPL. However, with experience, the 35-year-old has grown into a genuine all-rounder from Sanjay Manjrekar's 'Bits and Pieces' cricketer.

Jadeja has also been batting higher up the order in Tests, turning himself into an innings-builder from the free-flowing lower-order hitter we saw earlier in his career. The southpaw has batted exclusively at Nos. 5 and 6 in the red-ball format since the home series against Australia last year, with an average of 34 and a strike rate of 43.

The strike rate in the low 40s in Tests since the start of last year is a considerable drop for a player who was striking at almost 60 before that in red-ball cricket. It shows Jadeja turning himself from a hit-or-miss batter to a specialist, a transformation reflected in his ODI batting also, where he struck at only 75 strike rate in 2023.

Has International cricket taken a toll on Jadeja's tempo in the IPL? (Credit: Cricinfo Cricmetric)

While the drop in Jadeja's strike rate in the final five overs in the 2023 and 2024 IPLs to his career numbers may not seem significant, it is worth factoring in the lack of big-hitting skills in his first few years.

But the drastic reduction in ODI and Test strike rates from his career numbers to the last couple of years is startling and indicates how Jadeja has turned himself into a semi-top-order batter who builds the innings before accelerating.

Whether or not that aspect has also crept into his batting in the IPL is something only Jadeja can answer, but it is something to keep an eye on as the season wears on.

Another trend to watch out for is left-arm pacers proving to be Jadeja's kryptonite at the tail end of the innings thus far in the IPL.

Left-armers have strangled Jadeja in the death overs this season. (Credit: Cricinfo Cricmetric)

The lack of a solid hitting base and a free Yuvraj Singh-esque bat swing has Jadeja occasionally cramped for room or on the move when trying to smash the deliveries that aren't full and in the arc. With age, the minor chinks in the armor start expanding, and Jadeja must be mindful of evolving his death overs batting to fight off 'Father Time'.

All that said, as a match-winner and a clutch performer, Jadeja has built his stature by constantly proving experts and naysayers wrong throughout his illustrious career with sheer grit, determination, and constant drive.

While Jadeja's numbers are undeniably trending south as a finisher, underestimating the 'Rockstar' to rise out of the doldrums comes with its perils and repercussions.

Note: Stats updated until CSK-SRH match on April 5