JOIN USHaving spent all but one session fetching the ball on the first two days of the first Test against England, Ravindra Jadeja felt toss turned out to be a crucial moment of the match.
“I think the toss took the game away from us,” said the left-arm spinner when asked which of the three centuries from England batsmen hurt them most. “Everyone knows for the first two days, the Rajkot wicket suits batsmen and after that spinners come into play. That’s all I can say. We now we have to put the runs on board. Tomorrow is crucial for us and we have to play positive cricket,” he stressed.
The Saurashtra player, who is familiar with the pitch here, hoped the surface remains the same. For the first two days, there hasn’t been much turn that has rendered the Indian spinners ineffective. “As the game progresses, the wicket will be a little slow,” he noted. “From one end where there are some foot-marks, the ball can spin. But the middle part has remained the same. Yesterday and today the fast bowlers had some help but over the next few days the wicket will become slower,” he pointed out.
Jadeja has often been benefitted by R Ashwin’s prolific wicket-taking form but the local boy struggled with India’s premier spinner failing to exert any pressure on the English batsmen. The all-rounder, however, defended his senior bowling partner.
“Nothing like that,” said Jadeja when asked if Ashwin’s show hindered hosts’ progress. “It’s five bowlers, including me who have the responsibility taking wickets. It’s not just Ashwin’s responsibility. On some days, good bowlers don’t take wicket. Half-chances and catches are dropped. It is all part of the game, it is everyone’s responsibility to take wickets.”
Jadeja bowled just nine overs on the day and no more than one in the entire first session but the bowler tried to play it down.
“That was captain’s thinking,” he pointed out. “He must have thought from the team’s point of view. I don’t think it was his plan to bowl Ashwin and Mishra more deliberately. He must have had his own reason looking at it from the team’s point of view.”
On dropped catches during England’s first innings, Jadeja said: “Whenever a catch has been dropped it has often happened a batsman will go on to score a century. Ben Stokes too got two chances and then a few fell in no man’s land, but these things are common in cricket.”