'Not difficult' - India cricketer Ravi Jadeja aims jibe at Ben Stokes and England ahead of third Test

'Not difficult' - India cricketer Ravi Jadeja aims jibe at Ben Stokes and England ahead of third Test

WATCH NOW: Sports round-up as Ravi Jadeja says England are not difficult to beat

Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 14/02/2024

- 18:10

Jadeja has played down England's aggressive style ahead of Thursday's match

India all-rounder Ravi Jadeja claims it is not difficult to beat the current England side ahead of the third Test in Rajkot.

Jadeja is back fit after missing the second Test in Vizag and he insists the tourists aren't as hard to play against as some make out.


Ben Stokes' side pulled off one of the great Test upsets when they fought back and won the opening match in Hyderabad.

India had their revenge last time out, levelling up the series with a 106-run victory despite being without several key players.

Ravi Jadeja and Ben Stokes

Ravi Jadeja says Ben Stokes' England side are not difficult to beat

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They remain without star batter Virat Kohli, who will miss the whole series for personal reasons, while KL Rahul is still not back fit.

Jadeja is available again and is likely to be named in the starting XI on Thursday.

He spoke to the press on Wednesday and was asked about the troubles of facing England's Bazball style.

But Jadeja insisted it is not difficult to play England, it is just different from the way other teams approach matches.

Jadeja said: "I won't say they are difficult because their style of playing cricket is aggressive.

"In all these years, whichever team has come they have not found it easy to come to India, play on the Indian wickets and win in Indian conditions.

"But in this series, even the first Test that we lost, we had taken a lead of 190 runs and from there we slipped. In the second innings, due to small mistakes we lost the game.

"It is not that England are difficult to beat but they play with a different style and it takes some time to understand that.

"Once you understand their style and approach we can plan our game accordingly."

Jadeja also does not think he or the other India bowlers need to change their approach against England's attacking batting line-up.

He added: "As a team, if someone is playing differently you will start thinking about the lines to bowl.

"As a bowler, I will try to keep it simple and not try anything different because they are playing different shots.

"Let them play their style of cricket, we will stick to our basic plans which we have been doing for so many years."

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Ravi Jadeja

Ravi Jadeja is back fit for the third Test between India and England

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England have made one change to their team from the defeat in Vizag, replacing Shoaib Bashir with Mark Wood.

They will go into the match with two seam bowlers for the first time in the series.

The pitch in Rajkot is renowned for being good for the batters but Jadeja is expecting spin to play a part.

He said: "Here the wicket is flat and hard, but depends on what they have prepared.

Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum

England need to bounce back from the defeat in Vizag

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"Sometimes you get 37 wickets in three days, but this wicket looks good.

"Here the wicket behaves differently in every game. Sometimes it stays flat, sometimes it turns, sometimes it plays well for two days and then turns.

"I believe it will play well first and then slowly it will break and the ball will turn."

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