Ravichandran Ashwin criticised Riyan Parag for not using Ravindra Jadeja full quota of overs during Rajasthan Royals (RR) match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2026.
While defending a target of 156, Rajasthan Royals started very well with the ball and reduced KKR to 70/5 in the 11th over. In that same over, Jadeja created another chance when Rinku Singh tried to hit him, but Nandre Burger dropped an easy catch. At that time, Jadeja had figures of three overs for just eight runs and had already taken two wickets, including Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rovman Powell. Despite this, he was not given his final over.
Speaking on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat, Ashwin said that the team had a world-class left-arm spinner but did not show enough trust in him. He explained that even though numbers and data matter, Jadeja had already picked up two wickets for very few runs and even created another chance.
“You have a world-class left-arm spinner. Sure, numbers can tell something, data can tell something, but he has taken two wickets for some 9 or 11 runs in three overs and Rinku Singh went for a cross-batted shot and was so close to getting out. But you felt that ‘I am an off-spinner so I can bowl to these two left-handers but Jaddu will not be able to bowl, and Ravi Bishnoi can bowl but Jaddu will not be able to bowl.’ This is the mindset I’m telling you about—it could be that Jaddu bowls and the batsman hits two sixes, but the trust you can show in your bowling unit for the long term is not being seen,” Ashwin said.
“If Ravindra Jadeja had taken that wicket of Rinku Singh today, Ravindra Jadeja would have been Man of the Match today,” he added.
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Riyan Parag came on to bowl in the 15th over, and at that time KKR needed 69 runs from the last six overs. He conceded 10 runs in that over, and in the next over, Ravi Bishnoi gave away 19 runs, which turned out to be game-changing, as KKR later chased down the target with three balls to spare.
Maybe because of the match-up, Ravindra Jadeja was not given another over, but he was the best bowler for his team in the match and could have created another opportunity.
In the previous match as well, he did not bowl a single over because of match-ups. Out of the six matches Jadeja has played, he has bowled only 10 overs in four innings and has taken five wickets at an economy rate of 6.50.
Rajasthan Royals next match is against Lucknow Super Giants on April 22 in Lucknow, and it will be interesting to see how many overs Jadeja will bowl, especially since LSG have Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran as two left-handers in the lineup.
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