Ravindra Jadeja of Rajasthan Royals (AP Photo) Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed concern over Ravindra Jadeja’s cautious approach against spin and highlighted a long-standing problem in his T20 game.Since the 2020 IPL season, Jadeja has struggled to accelerate against slower bowlers, often allowing opposition captains to use spin as a containment strategy during the middle overs. Between 2020 and 2025, his strike rate against spin hovered around 94.28, one of the lowest for a regular middle-order batsman, while his average against slow bowling since 2018 was just 21.22. His problems are particularly evident against spinners who take the ball away from him, where his strike rate drops well below 100.This trend has continued in IPL 2026. Jadeja has managed only two sixes in 117 balls so far this season and his boundary percentage against all types of bowling remains low. Those numbers reinforce the impression that he’s not trying to dominate the mid game, but rather absorb pressure.While Jadeja remains a reliable finisher against pace, his role this season for Rajasthan Royals appears to be more passive, tasked with stabilizing the innings during the heavy phases of the spin rather than attacking the bowlers. This approach was evident in yesterday’s encounter against Delhi Capitals, where Jadeja advanced ahead of Donovan Ferreira but failed to make a significant impact. He scored 20 off 14 balls before being dismissed by Mitchell Starc.Ashwin was candid in his assessment:“Many people, including the coaches, talked to Ravindra Jadeja about deploying spinners more aggressively, but he didn’t listen. Whenever India needed a left-hander in the order during the T20 World Cup in 2024, they chose Axar Patel over the more experienced Jadeja. The reason is simple, Axar doesn’t hesitate with confidence. With every YouTube channel of spinners and Ashwin, there is Ashwin. Ashwin also drew comparisons between Jadeja and MS Dhoni, suggesting a shared mindset.”This mindset of Ravindra Jadeja is similar to that of MS Dhoni with whom he has shared many years in the Indian team. Both prefer to take the game deep and focus on the pacers,” added Ashwin.
