After winning the toss on a flat pitch, India found themselves under a quagmire at 33-3, losing in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rajat Patidar cheaply. That’s when India’s think tank promoted local lad Ravindra Jadeja ahead of debutant Sarfaraz Khan.
Jadeja made the most of his experience and added 204 runs with his skipper, Rohit Sharma. The left-hander scored his third Test century, a fine knock of 112 runs, and also completed 3000 Test runs and 1000 runs against England. Rohit also scored a fine knock of 131 runs as India posted a par score of 445 runs on the board.
Furthermore, Jadeja bagged two wickets in the first innings as he accounted for England captain Ben Stokes and Tom Hartley. Moreover, the left-arm orthodox spinner bagged a five-wicket haul as he returned with figures of 5-41. Thus, the all-rounder was awarded Player of the Match for his all-round performance.
Ravindra Jadeja said in the post-match presentation, “I was just looking to build partnerships with Rohit, we were in a difficult situation, look to back my strengths, play my shots, not try and be more conscious. Watch the ball and play the ball.”
He added, “I know about this wicket, if we bat first, it is always good to bat on, in the second half it starts spinning, when Rohit won the toss, we were thinking: this is all what we wanted, bat first, bowl second. On this wicket you won’t get easy wickets, you have to work hard for it. You need to throw balls in good areas, you have to earn your wickets.”
India and England will next take on each other at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi in the fourth Test match from Friday.
