CSK coach tells Rohit Sharma to manage ego battle between Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja before India vs England semis

For the first time in many years, India are operating with two left-arm spin-bowling all-rounders in their T20I XI. Both Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja have been featured in India's XI in all six of their matches in this World Cup. When the squad was selected, very few imagined that captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid would be thinking on these lines. After all, Jadeja and Axar offer the same skillset, and India, for close to a decade now, have used both all-rounders in rotation.

But not in this T20 World Cup. The combination of the Indian side has been such that Jadeja and Axar have held their spots in the XI. In fact, they were the only two spinners that India went in with for all their group-stage matches in New York. There was no place for Kuldeep Yadav.

So far, Rohit has been quite clever in using Jadeja and Axar. As far as batting is concerned, it has been a mix-and-match. There have been matches where Axar was promoted higher up the order, like against Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the games, Jadeja has come out to bat before Axar.

In bowling, Rohit has clearly preferred Axar. His skills in the powerplay have come in handy, especially since India moved to the Caribbean, where they have picked only two specialist pacers. Axar's two overs towards the backend of Australia's innings were crucial to build pressure. With the bat too, he has made useful contributions.

Jadeja, on the other hand, has not come to the party at all. In the three opportunities that he has got with the bat so far, he has failed to cross the double digits in any of them. With the ball, too, he has picked up just one wicket in five innings.

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming, however, refused to count Jadeja out. The former New Zealand captain, who has seen the all-rounder from close quarters in the IPL, said he can come up with a match-winning spell out of nowhere.

"In some tournaments, he doesn't really feature for a while and then all of a sudden, he'll get a 4/16, 4/20 and score runs with the bat and that's why he is such an effective player in your side," Fleming told ESPNCricinfo.

Fleming also discussed the role of captain Rohit and coach Dravid in ensuring there are no ego battles between Jadeja and Axar.

"India have got Axar working away too. You can combine the two and get a pretty good result. You've just got to make sure that in terms of an ego point of view during those middle overs, having someone doing the same skillset is not having an impact on either of them. You've got to make sure the man management is pretty sound. But you can't count Jadeja out. When the conditions are right, the pace that he bowls is spot on, he is gonna cause problems.

"Sometimes you've just got to wait a little longer and hang tight for your bowlers. Jadeja towards the backend of the tournament," he added.