One of the major positives to emerge for Indian cricket over the last one year is the rise of Ravindra Jadeja. Hailed as ‘Sir’ by current ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and ‘Rockstar’ by spinning great Shane Warne, Jadeja somehow has found Test cricket a hard place to flourish.
A brilliant fielder and an accurate bowler who loves coming at the batsman ball after ball, Jadeja has also slammed a jaw-dropping three triple centuries in first-class cricket. While his bowling has been impressive in the 18 Tests he has played so far, grabbing 77 wickets at an average of 23.29, his batting has flattered to deceive with just 587 runs to his credit. Caught between attack and defence, Jadeja has simply not found the working formula.
However, in the opening Test against New Zealand, the 27-year-old set the tone for what could be a fine run at home. He hit a crucial 59-ball 42 not out to steer India past 300 in the first innings and then cracked 50 not out (87 balls) in the second innings to win the man of the match award.
Skipper Kohli, delighted with Jadeja’s show, felt the Saurashatra cricketer had needlessly complicated himself in the longer format. “What I think is that he used to think too much about Test cricket being too difficult and him having to play differently. I think there are different ways of playing and he certainly has a different way of playing cricket which we feel he shouldn't change. Obviously he will gain experience and if we come to a situation where we have to play out a session to save a Test match, he will gain that skill as well.
“I think he needs to get confident and that can only happen by scoring more runs. The other skills will keep adding on at this level. He’s feeling more confident about himself, about his contribution. There’s a assurance from the team management to make him feel confident about his batting. Giving him confidence at the nets, giving him practice games. If you make the 60s, 70s and 80s regularly, you start remembering how you did it. Just small targets that we discussed with him and he’s responded in a really big way.”
If Jadeja continues to shine like he did in Kanpur, it just augurs well for Indian cricket.