Jadeja rises above ‘bits & pieces’

For the first time since Sanjay Manjrekar and Ravindra Jadeja fell apart during the 2019 World Cup, the two came face to face post India's five-wicket win over Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup on Sunday.

Manjrekar, one of the commentators for the host broadcaster, was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the post-match interview with Jadeja who had played a crucial hand in India's nervy win with a handy 35. This is the same cricketer Manjrekar had described, rather harshly, as a "bits and pieces" player to suggest that the Saurashtra all-rounder couldn't be relied upon as either a batsman alone or a bowler alone in 50-over cricket.

After hitting out at Manjrekar by even questioning the Mumbaikar's credentials as a player, Jadeja, in an immediate riposte, struck a 59-ball 77 against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semifinal in Manchester. Forced to eat his words, a self-deprecating Manjrekar tweeted: "Bits 'n' pieces he just ripped me apart today. By bits and pieces of sheer brilliance just proved me wrong on all fronts..."

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Cut to the present, and Manjrekar took the initiative to break the ice by asking the man of the moment, "You are ok na to talk me, Jaddu" to which Jadeja replied, "Yeah yeah, absolutely."

While all is well that ends well on that count, it’s undeniable that there has been a remarkable improvement in Jadeja's batting post the 2019 World Cup, as the numbers attest (see the table). It's difficult to prove if Manjrekar's barb spurred Jadeja to take his batting more seriously, but the coincidence is hard to miss. And the trend is the same across all three formats.

Where the left-hander averaged 32.28 in 41 Tests before the 2019 WC with a century and 10 half-centuries, he averages 45.13 in the 19 Tests since with one hundred and seven fifties. Thanks to his batting, he has even edged out a superior bowler in R Ashwin in Tests outside of the sub-continent for the lone spinner's spot. Not just under Virat Kohli, but even under head coach Rahul Dravid, the 33-year-old has been the preferred spinner for the depth he provides in batting.

Not unlike on Sunday, Jadeja has often been promoted up the order of late and seldom has he failed to deliver.

"... There was another long-term clue or a thought (in promoting Jadeja) that could come in, is that now slowly in white ball cricket, Jadeja could now be looked at as a batting all-rounder," Manjrekar told Sports18 on Tuesday. "He bowled two overs, but if he’s going to take important positions in the batting order and make the kind of contribution that he did against Pakistan then Wow! He fits in perfectly," he said.

How is that for a turnaround!

Interestingly, his bowling has taken a slight beating in Tests and ODIs during the same period. While he picked up a wicket every 59.79 balls before the World Cup, he has taken 65.42 balls per wicket post that. The before and after economy rates in ODIs are 4.86 and 5.42 per over respectively. The inferior strike rate post the World Cup is perhaps because he played five of those 19 Tests in England, where he mainly did a holding job in pace-friendly conditions.

When Jadeja and Ashwin were dumped together after India's loss to Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, the road back to white-ball cricket appeared improbable for the finger spinners, with the wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav striking in tandem and taking wickets by the bucketful. Not for the first time, however, Jadeja has managed to turn the tables around.

He was always a utility cricketer with his miserly bowling and excellent fielding skills, but by elevating his batting standards, he has proved he is a true three-dimensional (3D) cricketer!