'Axar Patel grabbed his opportunities': Sunil Gavaskar says it will 'not be easy for Ravindra Jadeja to break into team'

India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes the spinner has made the most of the opportunities that came his way, and he would make it difficult for Jadeja to make it back into the team.

India allrounder Ravindra Jadeja suffered an injury during the 3rd Test against Australia and he had to undergo surgery that kept him out of contention of making it into the Test squad against England. In his absence, Axar Patel was included in the squad, and after missing the first Test due to an injury, he got his chance in the 2nd Test when he was picked over Shahbaz Nadeem.

File image of Sunil Gavaskar. (File)

The left-arm spinner picked up 27 wickets in three games, picking four five-wicket hauls in the series. Axar also scored a valuable 43 runs on a difficult batting surface in the 4th Test in Ahmedabad, showcasing the role he can play with the bat lower down the order.

India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes the spinner has made the most of the opportunities that came his way, and he would make it difficult for Jadeja to make it back into the team.

"Axar Patel has grabbed his opportunities. He has taken 27 wickets, he has also shown that he can bat well and he is also a very good fielder, probably not as good as Ravindra Jadeja," Gavaskar said.

"It's not going to be easy for Ravindra Jadeja to break into the team because if you go by form, with him not having played much cricket, the Indian think tank might want to retain Axar Patel," he added.

"It's always good to have two players fighting for one place because that means that complacency will not set in," Gavaskar said.