I feel the healthy competition between Ashwin and Jadeja has been good for India: Zaheer Khan

R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, and Ravindra Jadeja

Zaheer Khan noticed that the healthy competition between Ashwin and Jadeja had proved to be beneficial for India in recent times. He added that the duo are working hard on honing both bowling and batting skills to claim the one spot available for a spinner in overseas Tests.

While speaking on Cricbuzz chatter, Zaheer Khan said:

"I feel the healthy competition between Ashwin and Jadeja has been good for India. Both of them are constantly trying to improve their games. In overseas Tests, only one spinner can play in the playing XI on most occasions. Here Jadeja should get full marks. He has worked very hard on his game. "

Even today, when he was batting, we could see he had the right approach. I mean, when KL Rahul was at the crease, he played sensible cricket. When English bowlers used bouncers, he did not lose his concentration and played with control. Even when he started to play aggressively in the end, he knew which areas he could target and backed himself," Zaheer added

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Jadeja's superior ability with the bat helped him to get a place in the playing XI for the first test: Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan opined that Jadeja's current batting form helped him get a spot in the playing XI ahead of his spin partner Ashwin.

Since 2018 in 15 overseas Test matches, he has scored 461 runs at an average of 41.90, including five fifties. In the same period, the frontline batsman's averages are Virat Kohli - 40.83, Rishabh Pant - 37.46, Cheteshwar Pujara - 34.69, Ajinkya Rahane - 34.16, Hanuma Vihari - 34.11, and Rohit Sharma - 29.50.

" Whenever we are talking about Ravindra Jadeja, his numbers in recent times tell us a clear story. There were some question marks when Jadeja made it the playing XI for this Test ahead of Ashwin as the lone spinner. His superior ability with the bat helped him clinch the spot. So far in the game, we have not seen much spin bowling from England, and India also used Jadeja for just three overs in the first innings. In this sense, we can say that Jadeja has done his job well until now," concluded Zaheer Khan