Ravindra Jadeja puts in an analysis of the differences between being a captain in shorter formats like T20 and Test cricket. In his dialogue with his friend, R Ashwin, in a conversation for Rediff, Jadeja mentioned, “Test captaincy is more about understanding the game over a longer timeframe, as opposed to T20 captains who are always in the spotlight in high-pressure situations.”
“In Test cricket, you only have to change two fielders for the bowler, not two fielders for the batsman. So I think it is simpler to captain in Tests. It is about knowing when your bowler is in rhythm and when to let him bowl.”
Jadeja cooked the overhyped Test captain Kohli. 🤣❤️ pic.twitter.com/XfnCIycSnQ
— 𝐉𝐨𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞 (@jod_insane) May 28, 2025
The IPL is a much more taxing environment to captain, advising, “Every ball is a tense moment in IPL or T20s. If somebody hits a six, you have to act at once, and Lloyd’s probably right in asserting you don’t get to react fast enough.” Test cricket, on the other hand, is nowhere near as chaotic.
Having played under captains like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jadeja, he believes Test cricket has chills. “I’ve played with many captains, and I’ve never felt the intense pressure to change things on the fly in Tests. You have time to think things through, and batters aren’t rushed by the captain.”
The real one is when to really use your bowlers according to the game situation and how to use them in Test cricket. Whether he was hinting at any of his former captains is questionable, but this is a conversation Shubman Gill, the new Test captain, might find intriguing.
