"I was telling him to look at me" - Ravindra Jadeja explains his medal celebration after stunning catch vs Bangladesh in 2023 World Cup
Ravindra Jadeja has confirmed that his unique celebration after taking a breath-taking catch of Mushfiqur Rahim in the 2023 World Cup was a signal to his fielding coach T Dilip to give him the "best fielder" medal.
Jadeja dove to his non-dominant side and grabbed a stunner to dismiss Rahim off Jasprit Bumrah's bowling. Immediately after, he looked towards the dugout and gestured as if wearing a medal.
Dilip was walking along the boundary rope at that time and had a good laugh about it, even with umpire Marais Erasmus.
"The celebration was for our fielding coach," he said. "After every game, we get the best fielder's award and I was telling him to look at me."
The 'fielding medal' is an informal dressing-room activity Dilip and the coaching staff seem to have started for this tournament. In the last match, Shardul Thakur got that medal and Virat Kohli had it before that.
That wasn't the all-rounder's only contribution either. Despite the wicket being flat with negligible help for spinners, he picked up two crucial wickets of Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and top-scorer Litton Das.
"You have to bowl into the stumps, can't bowl anywhere else, keep it with tight lines and bowl according to the field," Jadeja said.
His spell in the middle overs proved key as India kept Bangladesh down to just 256-8 in the first innings, despite losing the toss.
"Hopefully, our batters go out there and chase it down easily" - Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja also talked about the flatness of the wickets and hoped that the team's batters would chase down the score easily.
"The wicket was good, with even bounce and it's flat, the ball was coming on nicely and hopefully, our batters go out there and chase it down easily... If we play just normal cricket, we should get the job done," he said.
India have stood true on his words at the start of the second innings, scoring 106/1 in the first 14 overs.
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