“That was the turning point” - Ravindra Jadeja on the wicket that shifted momentum in the IND vs AUS 2023 World Cup match

Team India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja reckons that Steve Smith’s wicket was the turning point in the India vs Australia 2023 World Cup match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

The Men in Blue beat the Aussies by six wickets in the match. Batting first after winning the toss, Australia were bowled out for 199, a target India chased down in 41.2 overs. Australia were reasonably placed at 110/2 after 27 overs. However, Jadeja clean-bowled Smith (46 off 71) to trigger a batting collapse.

Speaking at a post-match press conference following India’s impressive triumph, Jadeja described Smith’s wicket as the turning point.

"I think that was the turning moment. When you get a wicket like Steve Smith, from there onwards it was not easy to just come in and rotate the strike for the new batter. I would say that wicket was the turning point. From there onwards, they were 110/3 and 199 all out," the all-rounder opined.

Opening up on his excellent spell, he stated that his plan was to keep things simple and bowl stump to stump because the surface was more like a Test match wicket.

"This was my plan, that I should bowl at the stumps and luckily the ball to Smith turned a little more. My plan was simple. I was thinking that this is a Test match bowling wicket, I shouldn't experiment too much because everything was happening in the wicket. So I was trying to bowl it stump to stump," the 34-year-old elaborated.

Apart from Smith, Jadeja also dismissed Labuschagne and Alex Carey in one over to register excellent figures of 3/28. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with two wickets each.

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“Nobody was too hyper” - Jadeja on India’s top-order collapse

Chasing 200, India got off to a horror start, losing Ishan Kishan, skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer for ducks. They were 2/3 after two overs. However, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli added 165 for the fourth wicket to ease the path for India’s win.

When asked about the mood in the camp after the early loss of wickets, Jadeja replied:

"When you're three wickets down in just a couple of overs, you obviously panic a little bit. But we know Virat and Rahul, they've been doing it for the team for so many years. So, I think nobody was too hyper or panicked at that time. But yeah, luckily, they played brilliantly, they know the conditions well and they took the game forward till the last so I think that was amazing to see."

India will next take on Afghanistan in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11 before facing Pakistan on October 14.