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Ravindra Jadeja says he saw his absence from India’s forthcoming one-day trip to Australia coming a mile off – and he’s fine with it. The 36-year-old all-rounder, who steps into his 37th year in December, met the press after day two of the Delhi Test against West Indies and made it clear the selectors’ phone call had taken any sting out of the announcement.
“[Selection] is not in my hands. I want to play, for sure,” Jadeja explained. “At the end of the day, team management, selectors, coach and captain have their thoughts and they will have their reasons for not selecting me for this series. They have talked to me, it was not a surprise for me after the squad was announced.
“It is a good thing that they communicated the reason behind my omission. I am happy about that. But whenever I get a chance next, I will try and do what I have done all these years. If I get a chance in the World Cup and there are many ODIs before and if I do well there, it will be a good thing for Indian cricket. Winning a World Cup is everyone’s dream. We had narrowly missed out the last time, the next time we will try and make up for it.”
The hard facts first
• Jadeja drops out of a 15-man squad that otherwise resembles the Champions Trophy-winning group from March in the UAE.
• Five changes in total, one of them Jadeja.
• India play three ODIs in Australia on 19, 23 and 25 October, followed by five T20Is.
• Jadeja has 204 ODIs under his belt, 231 wickets and 2,806 runs.
Why one veteran left-arm spinner and not two? Chief selector Ajit Agarkar put it down to balance and, crucially, Australian conditions.
“With regards to Jaddu, I mean look, at the moment to take two left-arm spinners to Australia is not possible. He is clearly in the scheme of things with how good he is, but there will be some competition for places,” Agarkar said. “Of course he was there in the Champions Trophy squad, because we took those extra spinners with the conditions there.
“At the moment we could only carry one and get some balance in the team with Washy and Kuldeep there as well. I don’t think we are going to need more than that in Australia. It’s a short series, you can’t accommodate everyone and unfortunately at the moment he is missing out, but it’s nothing more than that.”
Reading between the lines
Agarkar’s words amount to a diplomatic pat on the back: you’re still in our plans, but not just now. For Jadeja, whose white-ball career looked to be winding down when he quit T20Is after lifting the 2024 World Cup, that message keeps the 2027 ODI tournament in South Africa alive as a target. By then he’ll be 39 – old for an all-format cricketer, but hardly unheard-of for a specialist spin-bowling all-rounder.
Form, numbers, context
Jadeja’s Champions Trophy haul — five wickets at 4.35 an over — wasn’t headline-grabbing yet it did a tidy job. In the Test arena he still turns matches, which keeps him on the selectors’ radar. Even so, Washington Sundar’s off-spin offers the variety India prefer on bouncier pitches; Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist-spin brings a different angle. Two orthodox slow left-armers in the same XI would, the panel feel, be overkill on Australian decks that generally reward pace and bounce.
The player himself sounds pragmatic rather than wounded. That tone might change if omissions become the norm, but for now there is no whiff of a public sulk. Staying involved through domestic 50-over cricket and the odd Test should keep his name in the hat.
What happens next
India fly out in mid-October, with the first ODI pencilled in for Sydney. Selection for the five-match T20I leg is separate; Jadeja’s international retirement from that format draws a line. The bigger picture remains a two-year cycle geared towards the 2027 World Cup. India know that, Jadeja knows that, and the conversation seems open-ended.
For a player who carries 14 years of international mileage, honest dialogue is almost as important as the kit bag. So long as that continues, Jadeja will keep an eye on the 2027 calendar – waiting, fitness permitting, for the next phone call.
