A Maiden View: In Praise of Ravindra Jadeja
In foggy air on the final day of the final Test of the Freedom Trophy, as South Africa built, beautifully but firmly their defense, and as the Indian bowlers struggled to understand the Proteas' mind-play (which they eventually did, having engineered a crash later on in the play), Ravindra Jadeja bowled a careful spell, ball after ball of which was aimed to trap the South Africans in their own battle of will.
Disciplined bowling from Jadeja
In the process of this battle, Jadeja made away with an astounding 17 maidens. A wicked spell, even considering the South African resistance. Some flight, some more extra bounce, decent length, fine turn and Jadeja's blue shades-covered eyes hit the mark at 111 and du Plessis had to go.
Jadeja had already claimed Amla with a delivery that tore through the right-hand master's defense, ending his slowly constructed innings. And now he bore into du Plessis' pads. Jadeja couldn't trick more batsmen, but he had already done his job, and well.
His 17 consecutive maidens – Horace Hazell, meanwhile, rolled in his grave – however, told the story of the day. The Proteas, of course, marched out to surprise, though their strategy for the time being didn't work, having lost Elgar early.
But their resistance continued – every ball bowled was met with a defensive stroke; every turn of the ball, every toss in the air met with the same amount of passionate and mechanical impedance that had surprised the bowlers on the fourth day.
It was exceptional to watch this cricket, because it had been lost, even in the Test format. De Villiers, a hitter of the ball, proved that he could construct a slow, calculated innings as well – though that's probably unfair because a de Villiers' innings is always calculated.
The block continued as balls piled up while the runs absolutely didn't. In this heady mixture of frustration and wonder, I think, many a viewers found themselves comparing the Jadeja attack to the one that had astounded cricket-watchers more than fifty years ago.
Bapu Nadkarni: The man who gave nothing away
January 12, 1964, was an eventful day. It was the start of England's tour of India, being played in Madras. India batted first and put up a score of 457, losing 7 wickets. Two of England's players were down with infections by the end of the second day, with England at 63 for 2, courtesy Vasant Ranjane and Chandu Borde.
The third day saw England beginning with their blockathon, in which they added 86 runs with one wicket down; and then 27 in another two critical hours of defensive engagement. With lunch done, a legend was about to revealed: India's captain, Tiger Pataudi, called in Bapu Nadkarni to bowl.