Ravindra Jadeja finally justified his all-rounder tag with a performance that won him man of match award in the second one-dayer which India won to level the five-match series here on Tuesday.

The Saurashtra player struck a belligerent unbeaten 61 of 37 balls (8x4, 2x6) and then returned bowling figures of 2/12 to help India register a comprehensive 127-run win. “It was very important, not only for him but for the team also,” said MS Dhoni, referring to Jadeja’s performance. Together, Dhoni and Jadeja plundered 96 in 60 balls to push India’s total to 280-plus.

“Till now, if you see, he’s done well as a bowler. He has scored runs, these fifties and forties, but it’s important for him to get these runs going because it eases the pressure on the lower order. And we have seen he’s someone who can hit big sixes. This innings will really help him because, it will help him read the game, where he can hit the bowlers and what the bowlers are looking to do. We’re all really happy with the amount of runs he’s got for the side,” he elaborated.

With the wicket aiding turn, Dhoni pointed out, it became difficult to achieve such a stiff target for England. “Turning point of the game for was when the wicket started turning,” he laughed. “Because, that (turn) made it really difficult to score 280-odd runs. Once you have a left-arm spinner, someone like Ravindra Jadeja bowling at a good pace and still getting some purchase off the pitch, it becomes really difficult for the opposition,” he remarked.

England skipper Alastair Cook rued the fact that his bowlers gave away as many as 108 runs in the last 10 overs. “It’s too many, it’s almost 110 runs for the last ten overs. It does hurt. It’s very tough when you’ve got people like Dhoni in at the end. He’s probably the best player in the world in those situations and these conditions. You get exposed when you don’t quite get the skills right,” he noted.

While admitting that England received a few tough decisions from the umpires, Cook refused to blame them for the defeat. “It was incredibly (difficult) with the noise for the umpires, but we probably did get a few tough ones. But other games we’ve been on the other end. But, that’s not the main reason why we didn’t win this game.”