Ravindra Jadeja’s consistency across formats makes him India’s No.1 allrounder at present, if not the best in the world.

In the just-concluded first Test versus Sri Lanka in Mohali, his performance (unbeaten 175 and match-haul of nine wickets) made him only the third Indian cricketer after Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar to score 150-plus in an innings and also take a five-for while bowling.

But for captain Rohit Sharma, Jadeja needs to be used a lot more with the bat. “As captain, I want to use Jadeja a lot more with the bat.

“We all know his bowling. Everyone knows about his fielding as well. But I hope I get the opportunity to use his batting more in the future because we have got a lot of young players who also need to be seen,” Rohit said at the post-match news conference after India won the opening Test by an innings and 222 runs.

It’s Jadeja’s hunger for success which drives him, Rohit believes, also lauding the allrounder for his “open-mindedness. “Hunger is something that drives athletes to move forward. I see that clearly in Jadeja,” the skipper said.

“He’s hungry for success, hungry to get runs. He’s very open-minded. He wants to take the responsibility and wants to take the challenge.”

Jadeja is right up there among the current allrounders in world cricket, Rohit said. “He seems to be right up there, to me, at least.”