Ind vs Aus, 2nd Test: Australia had thought about Ravichandran Ashwin as the real threat, and even had a clone bowling to them at the nets, ahead of the Nagpur Test. While Jadeja was in the mix, didn’t look like he was their main concern.
New Delhi: Ravindra Jadeja’s return to India colours has been something of a fairy tale. His credentials as a spinner, especially at home, were never in doubt, but his sheer command over the Australian batters in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy is something that the visitors will not live down in a rush.
The left-arm spinner, on top of that, has again added some serious meat to the Indian lower middle-order batting and this combination is something India has been missing for quite a while. Irrespective of how the series goes from now, Jadeja is back, and how.
Australia had thought about Ravichandran Ashwin as the real threat, and even had a clone bowling to them at the nets, ahead of the Nagpur Test. While Jadeja was in the mix, didn’t look like he was their main concern.
Boy, were they wrong!
So as the second Test at the Ferozshah Kotla enters the 4th inning, Jadeja has made the seemingly daunting task for India that much easier, with some crucial help from Ashwin at the other end.
At stumps on Day 3, Australia was looking very threatening indeed at 61 for 1, since any score of 150 or beyond would be challenged on this track on Days 4 and 5.
But once Travis Head departed to Ashwin, Jadeja waded into the Australia middle-order with his killer line, length, and pace variations, and the visitors had no clue.
It was not an easy track, for sure, but nowhere as deadly as the Australian batters made it out to be. Their inability to deal with the Indian spinners, especially Jadeja was once again exposed brutally as they play some strange, downward desperate sweeps or other ill-advised shots to fall, mostly bowled or leg-before, leaving India with a challenge of 115 runs.
Jadeja’s 7/42 at the Kotla was preceded by the 5/47 and 2/34 at Nagpur, not to mention his knocks of a fine 70 with the bat in there and a crucial 26 in the first inning at Delhi.
Jadeja was always an integral part of the India attack, with ball or bat, and has come back like he never left. Always good news, and we hope to see more such fireworks in the rest of the series.
