Ravindra Jadeja: 'England were bowling boring lines'

When asked Ravindra Jadeja's aggression after lunch, the Saurashtra batsmen said that England bowlers were bowling boring lines outside off-stump and he decided to go after them.

Ravindra Jadeja celebrates after scoring his half-century.

It is not often than a Test century is scored by a No. 8 batsman. Ravindra Jadeja missed one such opportunity to score his maiden three-figure mark in Tests on Monday. At 90, Jadeja holed out in an attempt to send a delivery from leg-spinner Adil Rashid into the stands at the I. S. Bindra Stadium here.

Read: >Ashwin leaves England in dire straits

"I am not disappointed that I was out to that shot," said Jadeja. "The shot, I got out to, is my pet shot. I can hit a six anytime with that shot, I had confidence, but the ball came slow off the wicket and that’s why I didn’t get the required impact."

Ravindra Jadeja on Day Three

When asked his apparent aggression, particularly after lunch, Jadeja said: "I didn’t go on an attacking mode. They were bowling boring lines outside off-stump. We had lot of time at our disposal so I just thought that lets disturb the bowler, going outside the off-stump and try to use the gaps on leg-side as there were only two fielders that side. That’s what I was trying and luckily I got four boundaries in that over (from Chris Woakes)."

Reflecting on his approach to batting, the man with three triple centuries in Ranji Trophy , said: "Its not that I consider myself as a batsman. I am a batsman. I have scored runs. If you leave out Test cricket, my average in first-class cricket is 53. I have an idea that I can bat. I wasn’t in a hurry."

Bairstow: 'There’s still a lot of batting'

England’s wicketkeeper-batsman Jonathan Bairstow chose to strike an optimistic chord in the face to serious challenges ahead."

"Obviously, there was variable bounce you, kind of, expect that on day three. So yes… even on day three, it all was happening but at the same time, it’s still a decent pitch. We still got (Joe) Root out there in the middle, we still got Jos (Buttler) and (Chris) Woakes to come... (Adil) Rashid scored a heck of a lot of runs. There’s still lot of batting under the shed."

Asked about the impact of Ravichandran Ashwin , Bairstow said: “Look Ashwin is a quality bowler, got a lot of tricks and lot of variation. He varies his pace really well. His trajectory is different all the time. So, at some point, you got to give credit to the bowler, as well."

When probed to remark on Virat Kohli’s reaction to Stokes’ dismissal , Bairstow said: “It’s up to him. He is obviously quite a vocal character. But that’s Virat. He gets a bit wound up in things like that.”