The Indian cricket team is very much on the rise, especially in the Test format, with the aggressive leadership of Virat Kohli heralding a new era, and competition for places is pretty high, especially with a busy home season scheduled for the Men in Blue.
They will play as many as 13 Tests at home during the 2016-17 season starting with the three-match series against New Zealand and spin will very much be the main weapon on the dry rough surfaces expected to greet the visiting teams.
While Ravichandran Ashwin stands head and shoulders above the rest as India’s biggest match-winner with the ball, a number of other spinners are battling it out to secure a spot in the Test squad.
A number of them are currently in action with the ongoing Duleep Trophy final, but the one player that has stood out the most is Ravindra Jadeja who booked himself a ticket in the squad for the first Test against New Zealand with a five-wicket haul against Yuvraj Singh-led India Red.
Featuring for the India Blue side which also had the more accomplished spinners like Karn Sharma and Parvez Rasool in their ranks, it was Jadeja, who impressed the most, running through the opposition.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir’s go-to man, Jadeja bowled as many as 34 overs picking up the wicket of Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan as well as his competitors for the all-rounder’s spot – Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Stuart Binny.
Sure, the India Blue bowlers had the luxury of attacking the opposition – after some superb work by their batsman, especially Cheteshwar Pujara and Sheldon Jackson had helped them to a mammoth total of 693-6 in their first innings – but the job was still needed to be done and it was Jadeja who led the way.
After the fast bowlers had done the initial damage, reducing India Red to 44-3, it was Jadeja who picked up the next four wickets as he ran through the middle order batsmen who were desperately trying to hold on to their wickets.
Jadeja revels in delight after his first experience with the pink ball
Playing his first game with the pink ball, Jadeja, though revealed that he had made use of whatever little inputs he had received about the pink ball by other players who had experienced it in the matches thus far.
Speaking at the end of the third play’s play, Jadeja said: “I am feeling very good with my performance. It was my first game with the pink ball and I did not have much of an idea as to how it would behave. My seniors told me that the old pink ball gets soft very early and that is why I looked to bowl quick through the air and maintain the stump to stump line.
“With the older ball, after 15-20 overs, the pink ball seemed like a 40-over old red ball and hence it required me to put in a lot of my shoulder into my deliveries. I did not want to concede boundaries off the cut, and fortunately, it worked for me.”
It certainly did, and in the process, Jadeja not just cemented his spot in the 15-man squad named by the Indian selectors earlier today for the Kanpur Test, he also finds himself with a good chance to be named in the playing eleven, considering his abilities as a fielder. Amit Mishra did outscore him in this match, but overall, it is safe to say that Jadeja offers better with the bat and he is easily one of the best fielders in the Indian side.
With the pitches expected to be on the slower side and Kohli expected to continue with his highly successful five-bowler strategy, Jadeja has done himself a world of good with his performance today and he is optimistic about his standing in the Indian Test setup as far as the upcoming home matches as concerned. With India Blue deciding against enforcing the follow-on, Jadeja will have to wait to see whether he can recreate his magic with the pink ball in the second innings as well.
“The next few matches are at home so that is a good thing for me. We haven't decided when we would declare but we should be looking for a safe target of around 500.
“We need to play safe and ensure that we do not lose because the pitch is very flat and easy for the batsmen. While batting I wasn't able to see the ball clearly at first and was picking the ball out of the wrists," Jadeja said.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
