Ahmedabad: With the World Cup scheduled to kick off on October 5, teams are preparing for the marquee event. As India are gearing up for the tournament, team's spinners are expected to play a major role with pitches favouring them. However, Ravindra Jadeja will have an additional responsibility with the bat. His childhood coach Mahendra Singh Chauhan spoke ahead of the crucial competition with ETV Bharat about the cricketer and India's chances of winning the World Cup.
Chauhan remarked that India have all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya who can perform well in the slog overs and it will make India's batting lineup pretty strong. He added that apart from India, England and Australia also have chances of getting their hands on the silverware.
"India have all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya and Ashwin and the teams with quality all-rounders have more chances of winning the tournament than others. These players can excel in the slog overs which makes the Indian batting unit very strong," he said.
"India are my favourite and I wish for their victory in the upcoming World Cup. But, England and Australia also have bright chances to shine by winning the trophy. Also, Pakistan is a strong unit."
Reflecting back on his first meet with Jadeja and initial coaching days, Chauhan revealed that the spin all-rounder wanted to become a pacer in the early days.
"I met him (Ravindra) when he was eight years old. He came along with his parents and his interest for cricket was evident since back then. Initially, he wanted to become a fast bowler but he focused on spin bowling and batting later which was more suitable to his slightly short height. The move worked brilliantly for him and he is now one of the leading all-rounders around the world," he explained.
Expressing his opinion around Ravindra Jadeja's gameplay, he opined that his quickness on the field sets him apart from the others.
"He has become a star player thanks to his quickness in the field. He has won the match on numerous occasions for India with the bat and his quickness often helps him to keep rotating the strike. Also, he has shown terrific hitting skills in the slog overs," he revealed.
"I don't watch his matches on TV but I get to know about his performance from the people. Whenever I hear he has performed in a disappointing manner, I also get upset. Ravindra is no doubt a gun fielder and I have also seen improvement in his bowling. Also, him wrapping up his overs quickly works very well for the side. Plus, he has the ability to display hard-hitting and score with an impressive strike rate."
Chauhan further revealed that considering his game and the way he is going Jadeja needs no advice but should win the World Cup.
"No need to give any advice to Ravindra. I just wish that he wins the World Cup. I keep talking with him on the phone and he asks about the local cricketers here," Chauhan concluded.
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