Jadeja dropped from India's NZ ODI squads, 2027 World Cup hopes fade

Ravindra Jadeja's place in India's 50-over plans is now in real doubt. The selectors left him out of both ODI squads for the five-match tour of New Zealand, which starts on November 4 in Auckland. He has kept his place in the Test squad for the same tour, so he is still part of India's red-ball plans.

There is no retirement and no official statement closing the door on him. But the pattern is hard to ignore. Axar Patel has come in as the like-for-like left-arm spin all-rounder. Jadeja is 37, and the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia is a year away. The selectors have a limited number of ODIs to settle their combinations before then.

**How the West Indies series went**

Jadeja came back into the ODI side for the three-match series against the West Indies after missing the earlier ODI assignments against Afghanistan and England. His returns were modest. He went wicketless for 54 runs in Thiruvananthapuram, then took two wickets for 75 in the next game. He was left out of the XI for the third ODI.

Captain Shubman Gill explained that call as a matter of logistics. In a three-match series, he said, it is hard to give game time to the players waiting on the bench. Read alongside the New Zealand squads, that explanation now looks less like a one-off rest and more like the start of a change.

**Mixed messages from the camp**

The signals from inside the team have not been consistent. Just before the West Indies series moved to Guwahati, spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule described Jadeja as a utility player and said his bowling had improved over the previous six months. He suggested Jadeja would continue to be assessed alongside Axar. Jadeja himself has said before that he wants to play the 2027 World Cup.

The squad announcement pointed the other way. Former India opener Aakash Chopra publicly questioned the gap between what the team management says and what it does. He argued that Jadeja's near-total absence from recent ODI squads does not fit the talk of him being central to the World Cup plan.

**Why Axar is ahead**

The case for Axar rests on a few things:

- He offers control with the ball.
- He can bat in different middle-order positions.
- He is an athletic fielder.

Other spin-bowling all-rounders are also in the conversation, including Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey and Shahbaz Ahmed. Jadeja's wicket-taking in ODIs has also dried up recently, which has weakened his case.

**What it means for India**

Jadeja has been a fixture in India's white-ball side for well over a decade. He was part of the squad that reached the 2023 World Cup final. Losing his experience and fielding would change the balance of the middle order and the spin department. The selectors seem prepared to accept that in return for time to test younger options.

For now, Jadeja's focus moves to the Test series, where he remains a key player. His last ODI was on September 27 against the West Indies. A return to the 50-over side is not impossible if form or injuries force a rethink, but at present the selectors' choices point away from him.

The New Zealand tour, with its five ODIs, will show how firmly the management has moved on. If Axar and the other all-rounders do well there, Jadeja's route back into the World Cup squad will get much narrower.