"He has an odd relationship with 80s" - Aakash Chopra lauds Ravindra Jadeja's knock in ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has lauded Ravindra Jadeja for scoring a responsible half-century in the second Test against England. He noted that the all-rounder made a crucial contribution, although he missed out on a century and was dismissed in the eighties once again.

Jadeja scored 89 runs off 137 deliveries as India posted a massive 587 in their first innings in Birmingham. England were 77/3 in their first innings at Stumps on Day 2 (Thursday, July 3), trailing Shubman Gill and company by 510 runs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener pointed out that Jadeja deserves as much praise as Gill, who scored 269 runs off 387 balls, for bailing the team out of a spot of bother, highlighting that it would have been even better had the all-rounder scored a century.

"In the same breath, we need to talk about Ravindra Jadeja, because there was a phase when you lost Rishabh Pant and then Nitish Kumar Reddy soon after that. If one or two more wickets had fallen there, we wouldn't have been in this situation. Then we would have been talking about a collapse, that we lose the advantage after being in a good position," Chopra said (5:15).

"However, Ravindra Jadeja, he has an odd relationship with eighties. He has scored many eighties in his Test career, but an important eighty once again. It would have felt even better had he scored a century, but there was a contribution. He batted well and with responsibility. The huge partnership took India to a position from where you can start dictating terms," he added.

Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja stitched together a 203-run sixth-wicket partnership after India were reduced to 211/5. The spin-bowling all-rounder has been dismissed in the eighties four times in Tests, apart from scoring an unbeaten 86 in the 2018 Oval Test against England.

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"The collapse didn't happen this time" - Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar's contributions in ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Washington Sundar and Shubman Gill added 144 runs for the seventh wicket. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra praised Washington Sundar (42 off 103) for delivering to expectations, highlighting that the Tamil Nadu all-rounder and Ravindra Jadeja's contributions ensured that India didn't suffer another lower-order collapse.

"Then came Washington Sundar. He also scored important runs. He was played for runs only. There was a toss-up between Kuldeep (Yadav) and Washi. You didn't go towards Kuldeep, saying that you need runs and that a collapse shouldn't happen, and the collapse didn't happen this time. Both Jaddu and Washi scored runs," he said (6:10).

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that England's bowling was found wanting in the absence of the retired James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

"England are looking quite listless, whether it was at Headingley or here. They all toiled hard, but they don't look like the same bowling unit. There is a gaping hole there. We were talking about our gaping hole, that (Virat) Kohli and Rohit (Sharma) are not there. England are missing their stalwarts. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad were a different combination together," Chopra observed.

Shoaib Bashir (3/167) was England's most successful bowler. While Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue picked up two wickets apiece, Brydon Carse, Ben Stokes and Joe Root each accounted for a dismissal.