T20 World Cup 2024: Who should India pick between Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel?

The T20 World Cup 2024 is all set to get underway on June 2. ICC has set May 1 as the deadline for the announcement of the provisional squad for all the participating nations. Amidst the sea of talented players, Indian selectors will have a take cut out to pick the 15 players who have the potential to win the World Cup.

While there are many certainties as far as the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup is concerned, there are few slots which are up for grabs and many contenders are currently presenting a case at the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League. One of those slots is that of the spin-bowling all-rounder which has two solid options in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Both offer similar skills being a Southpaw and thus, India might pick either of the two for the marquee tournament.

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja has been a mainstay of the Indian team for over a decade. He has featured in 66 T20Is and amassed 480 runs at a strike rate of 125.33. On the bowling front, Jadeja has bagged 53 scalps at an economy of 7.1. He is an experienced customer and presents a strong case for himself with his finishing prowess. However, the only thing against him is that he has not been a regular feature in the T20I squad due to injuries or workload management. 

Jadeja has been in decent batting form, having smashed 157 runs in eight games in IPL 2024 at a strike rate of 131.93. But he has not been amongst the wickets often and bagged four scalps in those outings.

Axar Patel 

Axar Patel has been a proven performer in the T20 circuit. He has featured in 52 T20Is and aggregated 361 runs at a strike rate of 144.40. With the ball, Axar has picked up 49 wickets at an economy of 7.26. He has been India’s go-to man when required to fill Jadeja’s void in the team.

In the recent IPL too, he has shown glimpses of brilliance and picked up seven scalps in nine games at an economy of 7.06. On the batting front, he has scored 123 runs at a strike rate of 132.26. However, he has been plagued by inconsistency, especially with the bat and this is the thing that goes against him.

It is a neck-to-neck battle for the spin-bowling all-rounder slot and India might back Jadeja given he is experienced in thriving in ICC tournaments. Moreover, in the previous T20 World Cup in 2022,  Axar had a great opportunity to excel in the role in the absence of Jadeja but Axar did not perform as per expectations. Thus, Jadeja should be India’s first-choice all-rounder for the upcoming tournament.