Team man: Jadeja, just a wicket away from entering the 300-club, is a vital cog in the Indian squad.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU
It is not often a player flies under the radar despite scoring a vital 86 when the team was struggling at 144 for five in the first innings of a Test and then chips in with five wickets in the match.
Even though the focus was on the spectacular performances of R. Ashwin (113 & six for 88), Shubman Gill (119 n.o.), and Rishabh Pant (109) in India’s win over Bangladesh in Chennai, Ravindra Jadeja unassumingly went about his work, showing why he is the top-ranked all-rounder in the world.
Alongside Ashwin, Jadeja forged a match-defining 199-run partnership for the seventh wicket before picking up the two key wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das in the first innings to help India secure a 227-run lead. It was the platform on which Rohit Sharma’s men paved their path to a 280-run victory.
Since his comeback in 2018 for the fifth Test against England at The Oval — he was dropped for the first four — the 35-year-old has become a vital cog in India’s Test machine.
Great fielder
Widely considered one of the best fielders, Jadeja has shown tremendous improvement with bat and ball to cement his status as India’s premier all-rounder, both at home and away.
Since September 2018, in 37 matches, the southpaw has scored 1926 runs at an impressive average of 43.77 while picking up 128 wickets (avg 25.16). During this period, he scored all four of his centuries and took as many five-wicket hauls.
Ashwin, who has often had to make way for the left-hander in overseas Tests in the last few years, paid rich compliments to his teammate after the first match. “I was batting ahead of him at one stage.
“Over the last three to four years, when he went into bat, I felt so good in the dressing room. You feel so calm and composed when he is batting. He has brought that kind of assurance. (He is) such an inspirational story about how he has found his off-stump, how disciplined he has managed to be,” said Ashwin.
Now, ahead of the second Test in Kanpur (Sept. 27 to Oct. 1), the all-rounder from Saurashtra is on the cusp of a significant landmark. Jadeja is one wicket away from entering the 300 Test-wicket club and will be the seventh Indian to get there.
Recently, head coach Gautam Gambhir observed that India has been obsessed with finding the next pace-bowling all-rounder in the mould of Kapil Dev and, in the process has not celebrated the likes of Jadeja and Ashwin.
During the first edition of the IPL in 2008, Jadeja was nicknamed ‘Rockstar’ by his then Rajasthan Royals skipper and former Australian great Shane Warne. When he eventually makes it to the elite list of players who have scored 3000 runs and taken 300 Test wickets, Jadeja will have thoroughly earned the title.
Published – September 24, 2024 09:31 pm IST
