Bahutule Called Jadeja a 'Utility Player.' The Numbers Say He Hasn't Been One.

Utility. That is the word Sairaj Bahutule chose. Not indispensable. Not automatic. Not the man for the job. Utility. As in: we need to figure out whether you are still useful.

Speaking in Guwahati ahead of the second ODI against West Indies, India's spin-bowling coach confirmed what has been cricket's worst-kept secret for months: Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are competing for the same World Cup seat, and neither has been told it is his. The series between now and South Africa 2027 will determine who gets it.

"With Axar also being around, with the series or tournaments we play in the coming months, we will be able to assess who can be of utility," Bahutule said. Utility. For a man who has won 13 IPL titles with four different franchises, 350+ Test wickets, and an ODI career spanning 15 years, it is a word that stings.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: Bahutule's diplomacy cannot paper over a year of ODI bowling numbers that would embarrass a part-timer.

In his last seven ODIs across the last 12 months, Jadeja has taken exactly one wicket. His bowling average in that stretch is north of 350. He went for 54 runs in ten overs in the first ODI against West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram — and that was actually his first time completing his full quota of overs in seven innings. Against New Zealand and South Africa before that, he could not even get through his ten.

Meanwhile, Axar Patel — currently away with the T20I squad at the Asian Games — has taken eight wickets in his last six ODIs at an average of 30.87, which is better than his career figure of 32.73. He has scored 377 runs since the 2023 World Cup final compared to Jadeja's 149 in a similar span. He is five years younger. He is not the one being described as a utility player.

So why not just pick Axar and move on? Because Bahutule and the Indian think tank know something the stat sheet does not capture in full: Jadeja's Test form has been resurgent. He bowled superbly in Sri Lanka, crossed 350 Test wickets in Galle, and his red-ball value is not in question. The hope — and Bahutule articulated it clearly — is that the Test-match rhythm bleeds into his white-ball bowling.

"He has definitely improved as a bowler over the last six months. I thought the Test matches he bowled really well in Sri Lanka, as well as now with the first one-dayer," Bahutule said. "It is his first game after a long period, but he has done well."

Done well is generous for 0-54, but the point is directional: Jadeja had been dropped from the ODI squads against Afghanistan and England, and his recall for the West Indies series is itself a statement that the door is not shut. It is, however, noticeably ajar rather than wide open.

The 2027 World Cup in South Africa looms over every selection conversation, and Bahutule made it clear that conditions will drive the final call. South African pitches offer bounce and pace, with less assistance for conventional finger spin. India are unlikely to carry both Jadeja and Axar in a 15-member squad.

"We are very much aware of the type of pitches we are going to get in South Africa and accordingly we are trying to identify the right players who can have an impact in those conditions," Bahutule said. Translation: if you cannot take wickets on bouncy decks with minimal turn, you are not getting on the plane.

This is where Axar's trajectory matters. His bowling average has improved in 2026, his left-arm orthodox gets a touch more bounce than Jadeja's, and his lower-order batting — 377 runs since the 2023 World Cup final — gives him genuine allrounder credentials rather than bits-and-pieces value. Jadeja's batting, once a weapon, has produced just 149 runs across 13 ODIs in the same stretch. At 37, the sword is not quite as sharp.

If there is one spinner whose World Cup ticket is already stamped, it is Kuldeep Yadav. Bahutule was unequivocal.

"Kuldeep has always been a match-winner for India. He has performed exceedingly well, his numbers also show that," the spin coach said. "He is a player who every team would want because he is always lively on and off the field, and his unique skills help us to perform in any conditions."

Kuldeep's 4-40 in the first ODI underlined the point. He is India's most potent white-ball spinner by a distance, and his recent county stint at Yorkshire has only sharpened him. The Jadeja-Axar debate is for the second spin slot — and increasingly, it feels like it is Jadeja's to lose rather than Axar's to win.

Bahutule did his best to keep both plates spinning — praising Jadeja's experience and batting while acknowledging that Axar's case grows stronger with each series. But the language tells its own story. When a 37-year-old who has won everything in the game gets described as a "utility player" who needs to prove he "can be of utility," the subtext is clear: prove it or step aside.

The West Indies series, the Champions Trophy defence, and whatever comes after will be Jadeja's audition reel. If he cannot take wickets — not just contain, but take wickets — against middle-order batters in home conditions, the South African pitches will eat him alive. And India's selectors, for all their sentimentality, are not going to fly a passenger to a World Cup.

Axar does not need to be spectacular. He just needs to keep being what he has been: reliable, wicket-taking, and five years younger. In selection battles, the younger man with better numbers does not need to do anything dramatic. He just needs the other man to stay static. And right now, static is exactly what Jadeja's ODI bowling has been.