WTC Final: Looking back at Ravindra Jadeja's 3 best Test knocks vs Australia
After his heroics with the bat to win Chennai Super Kings their 5th IPL title, Ravindra Jadeja will have his eyes set on winning the WTC final for his nation.
The all-rounder will be one of the pivotal members of the Indian team which will face Australia and try and win their first ICC event after the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Jadeja has been India’s best left-handed batter in the last couple of years and walks into the Test side as a batter alone.
With the WTC final being held at The Oval, we might expect both Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin to make the cut. If India decides to pick just one spinner, then in all likelihood, the former will get the nod.
He has been in prolific form across formats, especially in the last year or so and has looked at ease in all conditions.
He looked in great shape with the bat when India toured England back in 2021. Despite not taking a bagful of wickets, the Saurashtra cricketer managed to restrict the batters with his accurate lines and lengths. This, in turn, helped the faster bowlers to get the rewards.
Over the years, Jadeja has played quite a few match-defining innings in the Test format. In the recent past, his record against Australia has improved by leaps and bounds.
With the WTC final in view, let us look back at Ravindra Jadeja's three best innings against Australia.
#1 70 at Nagpur in 2023
Jadeja didn’t look at his fluent best during the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy held in India earlier this year. He struggled to score consistently through the course of the four-match Test series but had started it on a high.
In spin-friendly conditions in Nagpur, the Aussies were skittled out for just 177 in the 1st innings.
India took a mammoth lead of 223 runs on the back of a splendid century from Rohit Sharma and useful contributions from the lower middle order and the lower order.
It was Jadeja's 70 and Axar Patel's 84 which eventually propelled India to a score of 400. Jadeja was hardly challenged by any of the bowlers during his stay. Besides a few loose shots, he looked in complete command of proceedings and shared a brilliant stand with Axar.
India eventually went on to win the match by an innings and 132 runs after bowling out Australia for just 91 in their second innings.
#2 63 at Dharmashala in 2017
Back in 2017, Ravindra Jadeja's reputation was of a bowler who could bat and contribute a few runs in the lower middle order. His batting contributions did help India occasionally but those were few and far between.
In one of those instances, Jadeja turned the game on its head with a well-crafted half-century which helped India win the Dharamshala Test back in 2017. It led them to clinch the series 2-1.
After batting first, Australia posted a decent score on the board. 300 was always going to be a challenging total for India to respond to. But just when it looked like Australia will get a lead, it was Jadeja and Wriddhiman Saha who resurrected the innings with useful contributions.
The southpaw went on to score a stroke-filled 63 of 95 deliveries, an innings which was studded with 4 fours and as many sixes.
His knock helped India take a 32-run lead and eventually win the match by eight wickets. Australia were bowled out for just 137 runs in the second innings, allowing India to chase down the target easily.
#3 57 at Melbourne in 2020
This knock has to be one of Jadeja's finest, especially given the context of the game. India was coming off a morale-shattering loss in the opening Test of the series, having got bowled out for just 36 in the second innings.
Everyone had written them off going into the 2nd Test. With captain Virat Kohli leaving the Australian shores due to the birth of his first child, most of the cricketing pundits predicted a 4-0 outcome in favour of Australia. But what transpired in the next three Tests was nothing short of a fairytale for India.
Rahane had got his side off to a good start after the bowlers had done a commendable job to bowl out the Aussies for just 195 in the 1st innings.
India lost half their side for 173 and that is when Jadeja joined his skipper Ajinkya Rahane. Both looked in good touch but Jadeja, in particular, was prepared to play the waiting game.
He took as many as 159 deliveries for his 57, which was very uncharacteristic. He understood the condition and shared a massive stand of 121 runs with Rahane. His knock included 3 fours as India secured a significant lead of 131 runs.
The bowling department led the charge, dismissing Australia for just 200 in the 2nd innings. After a couple of early hiccups, India chased down the target of 70 with 8 wickets in hand.