Veteran warrior Jadeja's spin hits the rough on England tour

A handy spinner in all conditions, he failed to make it count on a fifth day pitch in the Leeds Test that India lost by five wickets

- Sanjeev K Samyal

MUMBAI: It's certainly not a good time for those seasoned players who formed the nucleus of the India side since Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013.

In the current transitional phase, the senior pros one by one have walked into the sunset, Virat Kohli following Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin into retirement while Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have been out of favour for more than two seasons. When India last played in England, 2021, they were all in the playing XI, including Mohammed Shami, who is now battling fitness issues.

From among those who made their Test debut before 2015, only a couple remain - Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul. Rahul, 33, is going strong but the scrutiny is on Jadeja, 36, who made his debut in 2012.

With Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar in the squad, Jadeja needs to do far better as a left-arm spinner than he did in the first Test at Headingley to stay relevant in India's new era under young skipper Shubman Gill.

In the Leeds Test, Jadeja was the sole spinner. He picked up just one wicket across the two innings and wasn't effective with the ball. He failed to consistently target the rough outside left-hander Ben Duckett's off-stump on the fifth day, and the opener (61 & 149) plundered runs at will.