"It seemed this wouldn't happen in Rohit's captaincy" - Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel playing together in IND vs ENG 2025 1st ODI

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel playing together in the first ODI against England has put to rest the speculations that the duo might not feature in the same XI in the longer white-ball format under Rohit Sharma's captaincy. He also praised Jadeja for achieving a massive milestone in the series opener.

India bowled England out for 248 after Jos Buttler opted to bat first in Nagpur on Thursday, February 6. The hosts achieved the target with four wickets and 68 deliveries to spare to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the cricketer-turned-commentator acknowledged that he wasn't expecting Jadeja to be a part of India's playing XI. Chopra appreciated the spin-bowling all-rounder for joining Kapil Dev as the only Indians with 6000 runs and 600 wickets in international cricket.

"Ravindra Jadeja has reached 6000 runs and 600 wickets in international cricket. First Indian spinner to reach that far. No one else has reached there. Kapil paaji reached there but he was a fast bowler. He (Jadeja) picked up three wickets in this match as well and they were big wickets," he said (8:50).

"There was a question whether he would play or not. I felt he would not play because his name was 15th in the Champions Trophy squad. We got to know a philosophy that two left-arm spinners can play together. It seemed this wouldn't happen in Rohit's captaincy, but that's been put to bed now," Chopra added.

Ravindra Jadeja has amassed 6653 international runs at an average of 32.29 in 292 innings. He has picked up 600 wickets at an average of 28.95 in 411 innings across the three formats.

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"Jaddu was bowling better than Axar" - Aakash Chopra lauds Ravindra Jadeja's spell in IND vs ENG 2025 1st ODI

Ravindra Jadeja registered figures of 3/26 in nine overs in the first ODI against England. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that Ravindra Jadeja outperformed Axar Patel with the ball in the first ODI against England.

"He has still got it if there is even slight help from the pitch. He bowled extremely well. In fact, if you do man-to-man marking, Jaddu was bowling better than Axar. So Jaddu becomes your bowling all-rounder and Axar becomes your batting all-rounder," he said (9:45).

The former India opener added that Axar was used more as a batting all-rounder in Thursday's game.

"Axar was promoted in batting as a left-hander because Jacob Bethell and Adil Rashid were bowling. He did an excellent job there, and Jaddu did an excellent job in bowling. So both the left-arm spinners made important contributions for the Indian team, one with the bat and the other with the ball," Chopra observed.

Axar Patel, who returned figures of 1/38 in seven overs, scored 52 runs off 47 deliveries at No. 5. Ravindra Jadeja, who batted at No. 8, remained unbeaten on a 10-ball 12 after picking up three wickets during England's innings.