Ravindra Jadeja's perfect response to Matthew Wade on day two
Ravindra Jadeja’s heroics with the bat, ball and in the field has made him the quintessential all-rounder and an integral part of the Indian Test juggernaut. One of the reasons he has become a cult hero with the fans is his fearless and ability to tackle any situation head-on.
That was very much in evidence on day two of the fourth Test between India and Australia at Dharamsala. When he walked into the crease, India were reeling at 221/6 and had just much of the momentum they had, thanks to the counter-attacking stand between Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Wriddhiman Saha was just settling in and it took Jadeja just one hit off the bowling of Steve O’Keefe to overtake the wicketkeeper on the scoreboard for the innings. But the real action took place in the 87th over, which turned out to be Nathan Lyon's final over the day.
Extra Cover: Stats: Ravindra Jadeja becomes 10th Indian all-rounder to complete Test double
When it all happened
86.4 Jadeja leaves the ball outside off. Matthew Wade starts chirping away in an attempt to get under the skin of Ravindra Jadeja. He says. “Very good in all conditions, Gary. Great in all conditions, Gary.”
86.5 Jadeja just pushes the ball into the off-side and sets for a single that is not there before turning back. Wade continues to go at Jadeja and takes another dig, says “Showed you can do it all conditions, Gary. You get wickets all over the world, mate. You're not just a one-trick pony.”
86.6 Lyon, who has been excellent all day, just drops the ball short and Jadeja needs no further invitation to rock back and pull the ball over wide long-on for six. Not only did that serve as a perfect response to Wade’s remarks from behind the stumps but it also helped him go past 1,000 Test runs for India.
With that six, Jadeja not only crossed 1,000 Test runs but also became only the 10th Indian player, after Ravichandran Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri, Kapil Dev, and Vinoo Mankad to complete the unique feat of scoring 1,000 Test runs and taking 100 Test wickets as well.
Extra Cover: Ravindra Jadeja – cricket’s boy next door
Courtesy of a stellar home season in which he has picked up 67 wickets, Jadeja is currently the No.1 ranked Test bowler in the world. While it is true that a vast majority of the all-rounder’s wickets have come at home, that also has to do with the fact that he has played far more home games than away.
Of the 29 Tests, he has played before this match, only eight were away from home and although he picked up just 21 wickets in those games, his economy rate of 2.60 in those matches prove that he was still economical even if he didn't always get the wickets.
Whether Australian keeper Matthew Wade was aware of these numbers or not, is quite unclear, but the vocal keeper certainly did his best to keep chirping away and get under the skin of the Indian batsmen in a bid to get his side into a better position. But, on this occasion, Ravindra Jadeja was simply having none of it as he made his bat do all the talking by smashing a six to silence the chirping that was happening behind him.
The job is still far from done though as far as India and Jadeja are concerned. With India still 52 runs behind, much will hinge on how Jadeja fares on day three of the final Test at Dharamsala. If his efforts on day two are anything to go by, one can rest assured that the crowd at the ground will be in for a treat, for however long the all-rounder is at the crease.