India kicked off their Asia Cup 2022 campaign with a victory over Pakistan by 5 wickets where Ravindra Jadeja played a crucial part alongside all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
While addressing the media, Jadeja expressed his opinions regarding the victory and labelled Naseem Shah as a 'very good bowler.'
"India-Pakistan games are always high-pressure and people have their expectations. All in all, everyone contributed in all three departments. Spinners bowled well in the game as well, but sometimes it can happen that you can deliver good balls but the wickets do not come. The T20 format is such that fast bowlers can end up taking wickets on full tosses. As a bowling unit, everyone bowled well. Whenever we needed a wicket, we got that. It was a collective performance from us against Pakistan," Jadeja explained.
Addressing the Naseem Shah injury, Jadeja claimed that T20I format always demands a lot from the bowlers and his cramps had nothing to do with the fact that it was his debut.
"It is not like that we would have lost if Naseem Shah was not suffering from cramps. In T20, bowlers are under pressure at the death, it does not matter if he is young or experienced. Luckily, whatever we tried, it worked. Naseem Shah is a good bowler, he knows in what areas he needs to bowl and how to counter situations. All their pacers bowled well, it was not easy," he elaborated.
When inquired about whether he would prefer retaining his no. 4 batting order, Jadega said that he was mentally prepared for the challenge.
"Sometimes, left-arm spinners are bowling so it is easier to send a left-handed batter to the middle. I was the only left-hander in the Top 7 in the last game and somehow I knew this sort of situation might arise as they have a left-handed spinner and leg spinner. I was mentally prepared for that. You cannot say whether the same will continue going ahead as all oppositions are different," explained the left-arm all-rounder.