Jadeja underlines his worth

It was late in the night at the MA Chidambaram stadium and it seemed like Royal Challengers Bangalore had it all wrapped up.

Virat Kohli’s men looked out of the contest during segments of the high-voltage thriller but thanks to a fine effort from their bowlers and fielders, they clawed their way back into the game and held the upper hand.

CSK needed one man to step up to the plate and deliver for them in order to force a favourable result. Three batsmen – Suresh Raina, S Badrinath and MS Dhoni -- promised to carry Chennai through but they all fell at crucial junctions.
There was, however, one man who stood the test and came out on top. Even as RCB piled on the pressure and pushed Dhoni’s men against the ropes, Ravindra Jadeja wasn’t going to give up and helped CSK to another remarkable come-from-behind victory.

“Yes, but in T20 you don’t have much time to think about those things. If a team bowls one or two good overs then the game can change,” said man of the match Jadeja during the post-match press conference when asked if their top-order should have stayed on and won the match for them. “In the last over we needed 16, so we thought of doing whatever was in our power. Dhoni had got out in the penultimate over so we were wondering about what would happen. But (Dwayne) Bravo, (Chris) Morris and I backed ourselves and won the game off the last ball.”

As was the case when CSK staged a remarkable upset win over RCB off the final ball last year in the opening league tie between the sides at the same venue, Jadeja once again edged the ball to third man. But unlike last time where the ball raced away to the boundary, this time it flew straight into the hands of Ravi Rampaul stationed for that edge. RCB thought they had won it and so did Jadeja. “I was celebrating because I thought that there was no third-man (laughs). Therefore, I raised my hands and celebrated. As I was running, I saw the umpire (Anil Chowdhary) signal a no-ball. Then I saw the catch being taken but by then I knew that we have got the two runs,” he said of the final ball from RP Singh.

“Yes,” remarked Jadeja when asked if he has arrived as an all-rounder. “When everyone tags me as an all-rounder then there must be a reason for it. I believe now that I can do it. I will continue to work on my consistency and contribute to the team’s success.”
From the man who was being sidelined to a ‘Rockstar’ on the rise, it is safe to say that Jadeja is slowly but surely proving to be everything he was touted to be when he arrived on the scene.