Ravindra Jadeja is very important, not dropped from India ODI team: Ajit Agarkar

Indian chief selector Ajit Agarkar has confirmed that Ravindra Jadeja has not been dropped from the Indian ODI team and continues to remain in the scheme of things for the Men in Blue.

Speaking at a press conference along with new head coach Gautam Gambhir, Agarkar said, “It would have been really pointless to take both Axar and Jaddu for a three-match series…He has had a terrific World Cup. Not at all dropped. Either of them wouldn't have featured in games had we taken him. There's a big test season coming up. I think probably we should have clarified it when the squad was announced. He is still part of the format. He is a very important player for us.”

Agarkar also stated that Jadeja will likely feature in a lot of Test matches in the not so distant future and the selection committee should have probably cleared the air on Jadeja's selection status earlier on.

“There’s a big Test season coming up where he’s likely to feature in a lot of the Tests, so I don’t think three games would have mattered. We probably should have clarified that (his absence) after the selection. He hasn’t been dropped. He’s still within the scheme of things and very important as a player,” Agarkar stated.

Jadeja was part of the T20 World Cup winning squad and had announced his retirement from the format soon after. With the retirement, there were many questions as to whether Jadeja's career was coming to an end, but Agarkar's statement has now put an end to those rumours.

India squad for Sri Lanka ODI series:

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.