Rohit Sharma wants to use Ravindra Jadeja more as batter

India captain Rohit Sharma has praised Ravindra Jadeja as "one of the top all-rounders" in the world and he has now decided to use him more as a batsman. Jadeja batted at No.7 in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali and smashed an unbeaten 175 as well.

"As a captain, I want to use Jadeja a lot more with the bat. We all know his bowling and everyone knows about his fielding," Rohit said after India's win in Mohali.

He continued, "To me, he is definitely one of the top allrounders. Look at the performances, to score 175 not out and take nine wickets in the game, he's just upping his game every time we see him. In the past as well, when we played in India, his contribution with the bat lower down the order and taking those crucial wickets (has been great). You know, he just seems to be adding a lot more to his game every time he plays. He's very hungry, as you can see. That hunger is something that drives athletes to move forward. I see that in Jadeja clearly. He's quite hungry for success, for runs and to do well for the team.”

Rohit Sharma also said that Jadeja had earlier earned a promotion in the first T20I against Sri Lanka where he had batted at No.5. There he played a match-winning knock alongside Shreyas Iyer.

"When I talk to him about certain things, he is very open-minded. He wants to take the responsibility, he wants to take the challenge. The example was there in the T20I series against Sri Lanka. I just casually asked him if he would want to bat up the order, and he was open to it. That is why we asked him to go up in the first T20," Rohit said.

Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, in a sideline interview after the game, also wondered if Jadeja is batting too low in the order in Tests.

He said, "Jadeja has really come a long way in the last four-five years. I think his position is a little low for the way he is batting at the moment. That's what I think," Ashwin said. "His batting has gone one notch higher. He knows what he is doing and it reflects in the way he is batting."

Rohit Sharma also applauded Ashwin who went past Kapil Dev's tally of 434 Test wickets and became India's second-highest wicket-taker in the format as well.

"He's an all time great in my book. He's been playing for so many years and given so many match-winning performances," Rohit said.

"It's a big thing in his cricketing career to achieve that feat. When you grow up, wanting to play Test cricket, you don't dream about all these things. So to surpass that, it's a big achievement on his behalf. And I've been watching a stream for a long time now and every time I'm watching, he seems to get better and better. Ashwin is one of those kind of players who always have confidence in their ability. Whatever he wants to go out there and achieve for himself and then for the team as well," he concluded.