WTC final: Ravindra Jadeja is an absolute superstar, copy him if you are an emerging player- Kevin Pietersen

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen heaped rich praise on Ravindra Jadeja while urging budding English cricketers to learn from India all-rounder if they wish to have a long career in Test match cricket. Pietersen is of the opinion that England desperately need a fine left-arm spinner like Jadeja who can also give the team handy runs lower down the order.

Jadeja’s stature has grown significantly in world cricket ever since he revealed his 2.0 version with the bat. The 32-year-old by now has also impressed most of the former greats of the game. Jadeja’s batting average in Test cricket has shot to 36.18 and he’s scoring runs more consistently than he’s even done in his career.

“It frustrates me that there still isn’t an international-standard English left-arm spin bowler who bats. Look at what Ravindra Jadeja has done for India in Test match cricket, one-day cricket, and T20 cricket,” Pietersen wrote in his blog for Betway Insider.

“It’s the one position that the ECB must be prioritising. They need to invest in somebody because someone of that ilk is priceless across all three formats,” the former England captain added. “If you’re a kid, an emerging player, or a county cricketer, copy Jadeja. Copy what Jadeja does because he’s an absolute superstar. You’ll have a long career as a Test match cricketer for England.

“Leach is not a Test match spinner and Bess is not a Test match spinner. I wrote nearly two years ago that I hope Leach doesn’t get remembered for Specsavers adverts because it’s about winning Test matches,” Pietersen pointed out.

“Unfortunately, I was right, because he’s not good enough. He hasn’t bowled any teams out, he hasn’t bowled England to glory in Tests like Panesar and Swann used to do.”