Be it twirling the bat like a sword after etching a half-century, bowling incisive spells or snapping blinding catches in the deep, Ravindra Jadeja has been one of India’s throbbing hearts. The Saurashtra cricketer made a huge difference to India’s fortunes in its 4-0 Test series >triumph over England .
Jadeja was India’s second highest wicket-taker with 26 wickets, two below Ravichandran Ashwin’s 28, and also scored 224 runs including two crucial fifties. His seven-for was pivotal in India’s victory here in the concluding Test and skipper Virat Kohli lauded Jadeja’s contributions.
> Chennai Test: Day five in pictures
Excerpts:
Jadeja out of Ashwin’s shadow
We as a team don’t think that everyone is playing in Ashwin’s shadow. These comparisons are scenarios created in the outside world. Jadeja obviously wants to pick up as many wickets as he can. But, if you see, every time Ashwin has picked up wickets, the economy rate from the other end is not more than two. Ashwin will himself tell you that Jadeja has played a massive role in him making those breakthroughs. They bowled brilliantly in partnership for us this whole season.
Read: >It is a complete performance, says Kohli
The willow-wielder
We have always believed he has the ability, but he himself is realising it now. He has been able to score crucial runs, and that for me has been a bigger positive. We all know how accurate he is with the ball, but the biggest plus with Jadeja for the last few months has been his batting.
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A left-armer’s roar on a wearing pitch
When you have decent rough in front of you and when two left-handers are batting, you invariably get the off-spinner going because he can spin the ball from the stumps and Ashwin created those opportunities for us. After that it was a case of understanding that the wicket was slowing down, so, that’s the time we brought in Jadeja because he has got that extra pace on the ball and we just wanted to keep hitting that area and he did it pretty well.
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Pin-point precision
We don’t rely on Jadeja as a bad-wicket bowler, he is a perfect bowler in any conditions in Test cricket. He is accurate and that’s what you need in Test cricket. You don’t necessarily need to have too many variations at your disposal. His strength is bowling at nice pace, not giving too much air to the ball and making the batsman think about how long they can defend. On any wicket in the world, if you are bowling that accurately for a long time, invariably the batsman will make a mistake. In home matches he becomes much more lethal, but away as well he is someone who can give that accuracy.
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