Hyderabad (TIP)- Ravindra Jadeja’s two-layered 50 and KL Rahul’s mastery were at the heart of India’s 421 for seven, a total which placed them several miles ahead of England after the second day’s play of the first Test here on Friday, January 26. Jadeja (81 batting) and Axar Patel (35 batting), who added 63 runs for the unbroken eighth-wicket stand, are at the crease at stumps. India’s lead has now swelled to 175 runs, and England would find it tough to wipe that out once their turn to bat comes on the third day.
But India’s ascendancy to the top on a slightly tacky pitch was more tectonic and Jadeja’s risk managing abilities played a huge role in it. In one sense, the situation was ideal for the left-hander, who loves a scrap in the middle. When Jadeja came to bat, Rahul was in full flight and he joined the party with a few blows of his own.
In fact, the initial 40 balls he faced produced 35 runs as India first closed the gap with England and then swiftly moved into the lead.
But Rahul’s dismissal for a 123-ball 86 forced Jadeja to transform his approach. India’s lead was still only 42 then, and the home side needed him to bat long to construct more floors above that fledgling foundation.
Jadeja did precisely that. He slowed down indeed, but not to that extent of confining himself into a shell and opened up whenever England bowlers erred in their lengths.
A daring hoick off left-arm spinner Tom Hartley over long-on for a six and a flowing off-drive off leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed for a four showcased his power and touch.
England bowlers were all in spirit and optimism while bowling and appealing throughout the day, but they lacked consistency in hitting the right spot, except Joe Root, who is more than a part-timer in these conditions.
It came as no surprise then that it was Root who put Jadeja in the most unpleasant situation during his knock. The spinner wrapped Jadeja’s pads and umpire Paul Reiffel upheld the shout for leg-before.
But the DRS found a massive inside edge as Jadeja survived at 49. He duly completed his 20th Test 50 in 84 balls when he peeled three runs off Root.
The only sore point during his otherwise assured stay was a calamitous mix-up which resulted in the run out of R Ashwin, as Jadeja sold a dummy, jogging a few steps before turning his back only to find his spin bowling partner standing right next to him.
Though KS Bharat (41, 81 balls) failed to kick on, the wicketkeeper batter helped Jadeja make 68 runs off 141 balls for the sixth wicket, which expanded India’s lead. But regret will linger inside Bharat, who recently made 100 against England Lions for India A, for he could not make his maiden Test 50 when the team was in a strong position and there was no real pressure on him. However, Bharat will not be the only India batter who will be nursing that feeling once they glance back at the day’s proceedings at the RGI Stadium. Source: PTI
Tag: Ravindra Jadeja
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Jadeja, Rahul hit fifties as India make 421/7 on Day 2 to push England to corner
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Jadeja makes heroic comeback, takes 11th five-wicket haul
Nagpur (TIP)- India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Thursday, February 9, bagged a five-wicket haul in the first innings of the ongoing first Test against Australia in Nagpur. Returning to the team after a long injury lay-off, Jadeja scalped his 11th Test five-for to put India in a commanding positions. Jadeja returned figures of five for 42 as Australia were bowled out for a paltry total of 177 in the first innings after opting to bat first at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. Resuming play at tea on 174/8, Jadeja and Ashwin struck in quick succession as India bowled out Australia for cheap.
Jadeja was the wrecker-in-chief during the second session as he broke the 82-run stand between Steve Smith (37) and Marnus Labuschagne (49) before trapping Matt Renshaw and Todd Murphy.
Jadeja (5/47) then trapped Peter Handscomb (31) in the final session of the day as Australia were bowled out in 63.5 overs.
Alex Carrey scored a 33-ball 36 before veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3/42), who was the other wicket-taker for India in the second session, ended his stay in the middle.
Earlier, pacers Mohammed Shami (1/18) and Mohammed Siraj (1/30) dealt early blows to the visitors, removing openers Usman Khwaja (1) and David Warner (1) within the first three overs.
Australia, led by Pat Cummins, dropped left-hander Travis Head and gave off-spinner Todd Murphy his international debut.
Rohit Sharma’s India handed Test caps to Twenty20 sensation Suryakumar Yadav and wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat.
India eye a fourth straight Border-Gavaskar Trophy win over Australia. They also eye a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Jadeja applies ‘ointment on sore finger’, triggers debate
Ravindra Jadeja drew attention not only for demolishing Australia with his fifer on the opening day of the first Test but also for applying something on his spinning finger, triggering a debate on what it was.
A video made way to social media, showing Jadeja receiving something from his teammate Mohammed Siraj and then applying and rubbing that on his left index finger, something that had Australian media and a former player interested.
When a fan shared the footage with former Australia captain Tim Paine, he replied, “interesting”.
However, a BCCI source told PTI that it was an “ointment for pain relief for the sore finger”.
David Warner and Steve Smith, who are part of the visiting side, served bans for their role in the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 in South Africa.
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IPL 2022: MS Dhoni passes CSK baton to Ravindra Jadeja
Mumbai (TIP)- Twelve seasons, four title triumphs and five runner-up finishes later, the iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni has decided to hand over the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings to his trusted lieutenant Ravindra Jadeja.
But the 40-year-old will continue to represent the franchise for the “season and beyond”, having led one of the most successful IPL sides since the tournament’s inception in 2008, barring the two seasons when the team was suspended in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal. “MS Dhoni has decided to hand over the leadership of Chennai Super Kings and picked Ravindra Jadeja to lead the team. Jadeja, who has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2012, will only be the third player to lead CSK,” said CSK in a statement, adding: “Dhoni will continue to represent Chennai Super Kings this season and beyond.”
Dhoni, who will turn 41 in July, had announced his international retirement on August 15, 2020 and yet led CSK to their fourth title last season. CSK play KKR in the first match of IPL-15 here on Saturday.
Feeling good: Jadeja
“Feeling good but at the same time I need to fill in big boots,” said Jadeja in a video shared by CSK on Twitter. “Like Mahi bhai has already set a big legacy and we need to carry it forward, so hopefully I will. And I don’t need to worry too much because he’s here and whatever question I need to ask, I’ll definitely go to him. He was my go-to person and he still is today, so I’m not worried too much.” India’s World Cup-winning captain Dhoni has always been his own man when it comes to leaving captaincy or announcing his retirement.
He quit Test captaincy and also the five-day game in the middle of a series in Australia in 2014. And when he was sure Virat Kohli was ready to lead India across formats, Dhoni made the way for him in 2017. Though the inspirational leader carried on to play the IPL after announcing his international retirement in his inimitable style, his decision to hand over the CSK leadership to Jadeja was not entirely surprising.
The 33-year-old Jadeja, who is at the peak of his prowess, is ready for the challenge. The southpaw was CSK’s first retention before the auction ahead of Dhoni, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
The announcement still took CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan by surprise, but said: “Whatever decision MS takes it is in the best interest of the team.”
It can be safely said that CSK couldn’t have become the brand it became without the charismatic Dhoni, who developed a special bond with the team and its fanatical fans. Source: PTI
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Bumrah breaks into top 5, Kohli slips to 9th in ICC Test rankings
Dubai (TIP)-Fresh from his maiden Test five-wicket haul at home, Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah jumped six spots to fourth but struggling star batter Virat Kohli slipped to ninth in the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday, March 16. Bumrah, who returned with eight wickets in the Day/Night second Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, climbed past Shaheen Afridi, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, James Anderson, Neil Wagner and Josh Hazlewood in the Test rankings for bowlers.
Former captain Kohli, who continued his struggle with the bat and could not convert his starts, dropped four places, but managed to remain inside the top-10 just ahead of Rishabh Pant who remained static at 10th.
Kohli scored 45 in the opening Test in Mohali, while in the second Test he had scores of 23 and 13. He is yet to score a century since his 136 against Bangladesh in November 2019.
India skipper Rohit Sharma, however, held on to his sixth position to be the best-placed Indian in the batting charts.
The in-form Shreyas Iyer was rewarded for his match-winning 92 and 67 against Sri Lanka as he took a giant leap, advancing 40 spots to be on 37th position in the batting chart. Sri Lanka Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne jumped up to a career best No. 3 after his fighting 107 in the second innings in Bangalore. In the all-rounders’ table, Ravindra Jadeja was displaced from the No.1 position as West Indies’ Jason Holder reclaimed the top spot.
Jadeja had risen to No. 1 after his 175 not out and nine wickets in the Mohali Test earlier this month.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Shakib Al Hasan and Ben Stokes rounded off the top five in the all-rounders’ list.
In the bowlers’ ranking, Mohammed Shami climbed up a spot to displace fellow countryman Ravindra Jadeja to 17th. Pat Cummins, Ashwin and Kagiso Rabada have retained the top three spots among the bowlers.
Source: PTI
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Ravindra Jadeja is No. 1 Test all-rounder in world
Dubai (TIP)- India’s Ravindra Jadeja climbed to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for all-rounders today after his match-winning performance against Sri Lanka in the opening Test in Mohali. “Ravindra Jadeja’s performance at India’s recent Test win against Sri Lanka in Mohali has catapulted him to the No. 1 position in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings,” the ICC said in a statement. His unbeaten 175 lifted him up to 17 places from 54th to 37th with the bat and he added nine wickets to move up to 17th with the ball. His all-round contribution was enough for him to regain the top all-rounder spot from Jason Holder, who had held the position since February 2021. Jadeja’s only previous time on top was in August 2017, when he spent a week at No. 1. Jadeja was named the Player of the Match for his show against Sri Lanka in Mohali, where India triumphed under three days by an innings and 222 runs. In the same list, Ravichandran Ashwin dropped a rung to third while Axar Patel was the next best Indian at 14th, after going down two positions. Patel did not play the Mohali Test due to an injury. Among the batters, Virat Kohli rose two spots to be fifth, followed by skipper Rohit Sharma. Rishabh Pant, who impressed with an explosive 96-run knock, entered the top-10 at 10th after gaining one spot. Australian Marnus Labuschagne occupied the top spot.