Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has revealed that he was preparing himself mentally to go in at number four against Pakistan in the team’s opening game of the Asia Cup, which they won by five wickets. Jadeja was promoted to number four against Pakistan as the team wanted a left-hander in the middle.

India had played Dinesh Karthik ahead of Rishabh Pant and thus Jadeja was the only left-handed batter who could have batted in the middle order. The southpaw grabbed his opportunity with both hands as he scored a fine knock of 35 runs off just 29 balls.

In fact, India was struggling at 89-4 while chasing 148 runs but Jadeja added a crucial alliance of 52 runs with Hardik Pandya to get his team close to the target.

“Yeah, sometimes when a left-arm spinner or leg spinner is bowling, you send in a left-handed batter because it is easier as they can take the chances. So, in the top seven, I was the only left-hander in the last game. I somehow knew that such a situation would happen because, after seeing their playing eleven, we got to know that they have a left-arm spinner and a leg spinner. So I knew I would have to go in. So I was preparing myself mentally to go in and luckily, the runs I scored were crucial for the team,” said Jadeja in the pre-match press conference.

When asked if we could see him batting at the number four slot, Jadeja said that it depends on the opposition they are facing and they plan accordingly.

“That I don’t know. Every opponent has different type of bowlers. So we plan according to that,” said Jadeja.

Jadeja has definitely improved his batting by manifolds and he will look to continue the good show against Hong Kong. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to note if Jadeja once again gets the opportunity to bat in the middle order.

The fourth match of the Asia Cup between India and Hong Kong will be played on Wednesday.