Team India promoted star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja up the order in their crucial ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal fixture against England at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Thursday, drawing a puzzled reaction from fans and pundits alike.
Former India cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to express his amazement at the reshuffle as he posted an update that read, “Jadeja over Dube or even Axar???”
Jadeja over Dube or even Axar???— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 27, 2024
The second semifinal of the tournament was delayed by over an hour due to inclement weather conditions in the Caribbean region and India were put to bat first by English skipper Jos Buttler, who won the toss.
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Indian captain Rohit Sharma opened the innings alongside star batter Virat Kohli, who couldn’t break free of his sub-par form in the ongoing ICC spectacle as he was scalped by Reece Topley after having added just 9 runs before being cleaned out.
Rishabh Pant, who came to bat at No.3 was also dismissed cheaply as he was sent back to the dugout for 4 runs by Sam Curran as Jonny Bairstow held onto the cathing opportunity offered up by the southpaw.
Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit put up a 73-run stand before the captain was dismissed by Adil Rashid, but only after the opener had managed to bring up his half-century.
Suryakumar missed his half-century by three runs as he was caught at deep by Jordan off Jofra Archer’s delivery and India decided to send Jadeja to the middle ahead of Axar Patel and Shivam Dube.
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Hardik Pandya chipped in with 23 runs off 13 deliveries before falling to Jordan, who also scalped Dube for a golden duck in the very next delivery as Buttler caught him behind the wickets.
Jadeja, however, produced some good cricketing shots to add 17 runs off just 9 deliveries to take India to a total of 171 runs in 20 overs, with contributions of 10 runs from Axar and a run off Arshdeep Singh’s willow.
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