India vs Australia, 1st Test: After decimating Australia with 5 wickets on Day 1, Ravindra Jadeja shone with the bat, hitting an unbeaten 66 on Day 2 of the series opener in Nagpur.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 10, 2023 18:55 IST
Ravindra Jadeja sees himself as a proper batter: Mark Waugh (AP Photo)
By India Today Web Desk: Batting great Mark Waugh said Ravindra Jadeja’s growing confidence in his batting ability and his outlook as a Test batter has helped him improve leaps and bounds. Waugh said the India all-rounder has started to see himself more as a proper batter than a lower-order hitter in the longest format of the game.
Waugh’s comments came after Ravindra Jadeja hit a well-composed 66 not in 170 deliveries as he led India’s charge in the final session on Day 2. Jadeja and Axar Patel added 81 runs for the 8th wicket after batting 30.5 overs together. Jadeja and Axar remained unbeaten as India’s lead stretched to 144 at Stumps.
Since the start of 2017, Jadeja has consistently averaged in excess of 40. In 2022, Jadeja scored 328 runs in 3 Tests, which included an unbeaten 175 against Sri Lanka at home. Incidentally, Jadeja’s last knock in whites before he sustained a knee injury was 104 and 23 in a Test match against England in Birmingham.
JADEJA’S ALL-ROUND TEST HEROICS
Jadeja was out of action for close to 6 months after the Asia Cup in 2022 due to a knee injury. He underwent surgery and returned to competitive action only in January in a Ranji Trophy match for Saurashtra against Tamil Nadu. Jadeja shone with a 7 wickets in the 2nd innings in Chennai as he regained confidence after the long layoff.
Jadeja found success straightaway on comeback as he starred with a 5-wicket haul on Day 1 of the Nagpur Test, setting the tone for India in the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
On Day 2, Jadeja provided solid support with the bat to captain Rohit Sharma who held fort even as top-order stars failed against debutant spinner Todd Murphy and his senior partner Nathan Lyon.
“The game was in the balance when Jadeja and Patel were batting. That partnership was amazing. Jadeja, he is such a good player. His batting has improved. He has improved technically and mentally as a batter. I think he sees himself as a proper batter, rather than as a late-order hitter. You can tell that in the way he batted. A very mature innings, celebrating in his trademark way. He sees himself as a proper batter. It’s making a big difference to his game,” Waugh told Star Sports.
SIMPLICITY KEY TO SUCCESS
Meanwhile, former India head coach Ravi Shastri said Jadeja’s ability to keep things simple has helped him make a strong comeback to international cricket.
Jadeja looked in complete control with the ball as he bowled as many as 8 maidens and picked up the crucial wickets of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. With the bat, he was untroubled except in the final over of the match where Steve Smith dropped him at the first slip.
“The previous innings was a hundred at Edgbaston. He was out for 5 months after that. But the reason why he can come back and get on with it is he keeps things very simple. If you look at his action, it’s simple, repeatable action. He has subtle variations and lets the pitch do the rest,” Shastri said.
“Even in his batting, he looks to play it straight. Very little initial movement. He is a fit boy. He himself said the return to Ranji Trophy gave him a lot of confidence. He felt good bowling in that game and that has helped,” he added.
