"In Indian conditions, Ravindra Jadeja is unstoppable" - Wasim Jaffer after 1st IND vs SL 2022 Test
Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has hailed all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for his stunning performance with both the bat and the ball against Sri Lanka in the first Test at Mohali. Jadeja scored a sensational 175* with the bat and backed it up with nine wickets in the game.
Wasim Jaffer is of the opinion that Jadeja will be capable of batting at No. 7 even when India travel overseas. This gives the option of playing two spinners and five bowlers overall, thanks to the improvement in batting that the 33-year-old has shown.
A round of applause ๐๐ for @imjadeja for his Man of the Match performance ๐
Victory for #TeamIndia indeed tastes sweet ๐ฐ๐
#INDvSL @Paytm https://t.co/8RnNN7r38w
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo on Monday, here's what Jaffer had to say about Jadeja's fabulous all-round show:
"Jadeja is arguably one of the best all-rounders in the world. Jadeja is unstoppable, especially in Indian conditions. Even overseas, he can perform at No. 7 the way his batting has improved and Team India will show confidence in him. This will give them the option to play two spinners and make them even more dangerous.
In the recently-released list of BCCI contracts, Jadeja has been put in the Grade A category. But Wasim Jaffer believes that the all-rounder deserves to be in A+ category with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah.
In this regard, he said:
"Jadeja has definitely performed like a player with Grade A+ contract."
bit.ly/INDvSL-1STTEST๐ช๐๐๐ง. ๐. ๐ช๐๐ก! ๐ ๐
@ImRo45 begins his Test captaincy stint with a win as #TeamIndia beat Sri Lanka by an innings & 2โฃ2โฃ2โฃ runs in the first @Paytm #INDvSL Test in Mohali. ๐ ๐
Scorecard โถ๏ธ bit.ly/INDvSL-1STTEST https://t.co/P8HkQSgym3
"It was good to see India enforcing the follow-on" - Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer was also happy to see the hosts enforcing the follow-on on Sri Lanka after the visitors were trailing by 400 runs at the end of their first innings. Jaffer believes that since the bowlers were fresh, it made perfect sense to go for the kill and end the Test as early as possible.
On this, he opined:
"It was good to see India enforcing the follow-on. We had seen a pattern where teams weren't willing to enforce the follow-on and would bat again to take the game into 4th or 5th day. So it was a good decision as many wickets fell in the first session and the bowlers were fresh too."
The only thing that was missing in the first Test was Jadeja completing a 10-wicket haul. Jaffer admitted it would have been "an icing on the cake," saying:
"All in all, a completely dominant performance from Team India. If Jadeja had picked up 10 wickets then it would have been an icing on the cake. But overall a complete performance from Team India."
India are set to play their second pink-ball Test at home against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, starting March 12.