Jadeja: Rajkot pitch “worse” than Mohali

"Sometimes when the ball is turning, a bowler can try too many things. I just wanted to not give boundaries when the wickets weren’t falling. That is the time to restrict the batsman and bowl in one place so that pressure can be created. Not all the balls were turning, and they mostly got out to the ones that didn’t turn. We just kept it simple."

Ravindra Jadeja claimed five wickets in the second innings.

Ravindra Jadeja, the Man-of-the-Match, thought the pitch at Rajkot was “worse” than the one here against South Africa.

“The pitch in the three Ranji Trophy matches that I played in Rajkot was even worse than this. This looks a very good wicket by comparison. It feels good as an Indian spinner to bowl in our own conditions.

When the ball is turning and the wickets are falling, you get that confidence and then the ball comes out properly from your hand. It drops where you want it to drop. It’s good that way, I am getting wickets too, so I was just enjoying my bowling,” said the left-arm spinner who claimed eight wickets in the match.

“When Ranji Trophy was about to begin, one month before that I began practising and working out. The game plan was to make spinning wickets because other teams’ strength was pace bowling. That’s why we thought we would play spinners and play on turning tracks,” Jadeja added.

On his approach here, Jadeja said, “Everybody in the stadium knew the ball was turning. I just had to put it in the right place. Sometimes when the ball is turning, a bowler can try too many things. I just wanted to not give boundaries when the wickets weren’t falling. That is the time to restrict the batsman and bowl in one place so that pressure can be created. Not all the balls were turning, and they mostly got out to the ones that didn’t turn. We just kept it simple.”