Team India’s narrow 22-run defeat against England at Lord’s took the cricketing world by storm, sparking intense discussions among fans and experts about the reasons behind the heartbreaking loss. Among the many prominent voices, some pointed fingers at Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja—despite being the lone warrior in the tense run chase—for not taking enough initiative in the final moments. However, a former Indian Test batter came to Jadeja’s defence, citing valid reasons behind his cautious approach.

Cheteshwar Pujara backs Ravindra Jadeja’s approach in the run chase at Lord’s 

One of the prominent names in the Indian setup over the past decade, Cheteshwar Pujara, backed Jadeja’s approach during the tense run chase. He explained that Jadeja couldn’t have scored faster on that pitch, which was slow and had a soft ball making strokeplay difficult. Pujara believed Jadeja trusted the tailenders and was waiting to take his chances once they got closer to the target. He felt Jadeja was batting well under tough conditions, and scoring was never easy on that surface.

“He couldn’t have scored faster on that track. I felt that it was because the ball was soft, and the pitch was on the slower side. I guess, Jadeja would have thought that the tailenders were batting well and the team was getting close to the total. And once they were a little closer he would have taken his chances. I thought he was batting well. It was very difficult to score runs on that pitch,” Pujara told to the Indian Express.

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Pujara also lauds significant improvement in Jadeja’s batting

Pujara further went on to laud Jadeja’s improvement with the bat over the years. He highlighted that Jadeja has made significant progress, especially in overseas conditions, and has been putting in consistent effort to sharpen his skills. Pujara pointed out that even on match days, Jadeja makes time for net practice, showing his dedication. He also noted that Jadeja is now equally comfortable against both seamers and spinners. While he was always strong against spin, his ability to handle pace—once seen as a weakness—has become a strength in recent years.

“For the last five years, he has improved, especially abroad. He has been working hard. If you notice, even on the match day, he does his net practice. He has shown improvement when playing pace. He is now able to face seamers and spinners equally well. Earlier, he was a good player of spin but lacked a little bit of strength against seamers, which is not the case now,” Pujara further added.

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