India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has put his weight behind under-fire Ravindra Jadeja to win games for the national team. Jadeja was dismissed for a golden duck in the high-octane clash against arch-rivals Pakistan and also went wicketless.

The left-arm orthodox spinner bowled a solitary over against Ireland and could not get any wicket. Jadeja has all the experience under his belt but his T20I numbers are mundane. 

The southpaw has scored 480 runs in 37 T20I innings and has bagged 53 wickets in 68 matches. Mhambrey said it is not prudent to expect all the 11 players to be in top form.

“I think it’s a team game, right? It’s going to be 11 guys. You really don’t expect all of them coming into form. It’s going to be performed every game that will happen. For me, I personally feel whatever conversations Rahul and Vicky are having around, I’ve been pretty happy with it. And you expect a one-odd game out there. But it’s a long tournament,” Mhambrey said in the pre-match press conference.

Mhambrey backed Jadeja and Shivam Dube to deliver the goods for the team. Dube scored only three runs off nine balls against Pakistan and also dropped a simple catch to give a reprieve to Mohammad Rizwan.

“I think one just someone like Jadeja, who’s so vastly experienced, he just needs a game out there to just get his root around and feel around. And we know that the skills that he has and the experience, he’s going to go ahead and he’s going to win your games. So that confidence we have in not only Jadeja, but honestly with someone like Dube and others as well,” he said.

“You can have one odd game and people will have conversations saying you are given a game, and you’re going to have one bad game. That’s fine, but the team will back you. And that’s what is important in a tournament like this,” Mhambrey added.

India will next take on the USA at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Wednesday.