"That often creates confusion" - Former RCB player's huge statement on Ravindra Jadeja after Day 3 of ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and India spinner Murali Kartik has lavished praise on veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for yet another valuable contribution with the bat. The southpaw made a significant impact on Day 3 (Saturday, August 2) of the fifth Test against England, scoring 53 off 77 balls as the visitors posted 396 in their second innings, setting a target of 374.

In a video shared by Cricbuzz on Sunday, August 3, Kartik applauded the 36-year-old for his evolved batting mindset, noting that Jadeja now approaches his role like a specialist batter, even when coming in lower down the order. Kartik believes this shift in mentality has played a major role in Jadeja’s consistent success. He said:

“Sometimes what happens is that your mindset adapts to where you bat. I can tell you from personal experience, this really happens. When you bat at number 8 or 9, and a tailender or lower-order batter comes in, your thinking shifts. You start wondering whether to protect him or score runs yourself. That often creates confusion, and your thought process, your batting template, or your game plan gets disrupted.”

“But if you look at the past three, four, or even five years, the way Ravindra Jadeja has changed his mindset is remarkable. He now thinks like a proper batter, even when he bats lower down the order. And he performs as one because he has the technique and the ability. He knows how to play spin and how to face pace. You can play him anywhere, and he will bat. And this series has shown again and again that even on difficult pitches, he can play late, he can play aggressively when needed. He now understands how to manage the strike when batting with the lower order, something he has mastered over the last four or five years,” he added.

Jadeja has had an outstanding series with the bat, scoring 516 runs in 10 innings at an impressive average of 86.00, including five fifties and a century.

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“Hard work is clearly visible” - Murali Kartik praises Yashasvi Jaiswal for his brilliant hundred

In the same video, Murali Kartik also praised opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for his brilliant knock of 118 off 164 balls, which included 14 fours and two sixes in the visitors’ second innings. Kartik highlighted that Jaiswal delivered exactly when the team needed him the most, playing his role to perfection. The 48-year-old said:

“He (YJ) is a young opener whom we have seen perform really well, and he has an incredible backstory. The hard work he put in to play for India is clearly visible. And if you talk about Yashasvi Jaiswal, who for me is the Performer of the Day, his century was very important. The way he batted, look, dropped catches, falling wickets, wrong decisions, all these things happen to everyone. It's part of the game; you can’t fight it, and it’s not the batsman’s fault.”

“But the way he batted, especially when India needed it the most, when an opener had to be attacking while also playing a long innings on this pitch, you have to say that Yashasvi Jaiswal fulfilled that role brilliantly. And one more thing to remember is that, in between, everyone was saying that he had a couple of poor innings. He even got out for a duck. But he started with a century and ended with a century. A great beginning and a great ending, and we hope that this century he has scored leads India towards victory,” he added.

Jaiswal wrapped up the series with 411 runs from 10 innings at an average of 41.10, featuring two half-centuries and two centuries.