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‘Nothing to worry,’ Ravindra Jadeja defends batsmen after poor show

Written by N Krishnamurthy

India’s batting frailties might have been exposed again in the first warm-up against New Zealand but spin-allrounder Ravindra Jadeja said there is “nothing to worry” and the team will sort out its weakness ahead of the World Cup beginning next week.

Electing to bat, India suffered an early collapse in slightly bowling-friendly conditions at the Oval before being bowled out for 179 in 39.2 overs. Ravindra Jadeja’s 54 off 50 balls and Hardik Pandya’s 37-ball 30 were the only meaningful contributions.

“This is our first game, it is just one game and we can’t judge players on one bad innings, one bad match. So nothing to worry as a batting unit,” Jadeja told reporters at the post-match press conference.

“It is always difficult in England, you are coming from India, where you play in flat wicket … we still have time to work on it. There is nothing to worry, just keep playing good cricket.

“As a batting unit we will work harder on our batting skills, everyone has a lot of experience, so nothing to worry.” Jadeja hoped India will get better wickets to bat during the World Cup.

“It was typical English conditions, wicket was soft initially but it got better as day progressed. We hope we don’t get this much amount of grass and get a better wicket to bat in the World cup,” he said.

 

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N Krishnamurthy