Australian batsman Steve Smith heaped praise on the Indian bowler during a podcast session with Ish Sodhi for Rajasthan Royals.
The cricketing world has come to a standstill due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which has claimed over 88,000 lives around the world so far. The deadly pandemic has forced lockdowns in multiple countries across the globe, including India.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), which was scheduled to begin on March 29, is suspended till April 15 with further reports suggesting that the season is likely to be further postponed or cancelled.
The cricketers, meanwhile, are taking it to social media to interact with fellow players and fans through Q&A sessions, podcasts and Instagram live.
During one such session, Australia and Rajasthan Royals batsman Steve Smith joined a podcast with the IPL franchise's spin-bowling consultant, Ish Sodhi. In the conversation, Smith talked about Indian team and heaped praise on the side's spin bowler, Ravindra Jadeja.
"Jadeja in the sub-continent.. why is he so good because, he hits that good length and one ball skids on and one spins, and it just looks all the same out of the hand," Smith said.
"I think consistency in length is key and then having at least one variation. So, I think for a leg-spinner, having a good googly, or a slider is crucial and for fingers spinners, being able to change the pace without changing the arm speed too much [is important]. I reckon there a few around the world who do that, Jadeja is one of them. He is very difficult to play."
Even as the future of the 13th edition of IPL looks bleak, Smith remained optimistic of playing in the tournament at some point this year.
"Plenty going on in the world at present, but hopefully we can get an IPL at some stage. The two seasons that I captained the Royals were both half seasons, Shane Watson gave me the captaincy in 2015 and then last year out of the blue I took over at the back end of the season. Looking at having a crack at it full time and the Royals have a pretty good squad," said Smith.
