Dubai: Ravindra Jadeja, the eternal warrior of the Indian team, has been in phenomenal form in his last 30 Tests, scoring 1,436 runs at an average of 50 and also has picked up 112 wickets at an average of 25.
Even though he had made his debut in 2012 — also the only Indian to score three triple hundreds in Ranji Trophy, the India’s domestic first class — he had not done enough justice with the bat since his debut 10 years ago. His first major contribution came in his 23rd Test match against England at home in Mohali when he scored 90 and picked up four wickets to win the man of the match award.
He was always very handful bowler in Indian conditions and kept on picking wickets, but was always under the shadow of Ravichandran Ashwin. But once he started scoring runs on a regular basis, skipper Virat Kohli picked him ahead of Ashwin in matches away from home, because Jadeja could score those crucial runs at the back end of an innings.
Regular contributions
His first hundred in Test came in 2018 against West Indies, since then he has not looked back, scoring consistently for team India and picking up the key wickets. His rise as a batsman came at the right time for India as the Men in Blue were desperately looking for an all-rounder every true sense, which gave Kohli the liberty to pick five specialist bowlers in every Test.
Jadeja, famously known as Sir Ravindra Jadeja, did not disappoint his skipper, making contributions regularly with the bat and ball. The left-hander has scored 14 half centuries in his last 43 innings, which have come at a time when India were six down and Jadeja had to bat with the tail-enders to score those vital runs.
His last knock in the first Test against Sri Lanka was another example of his invaluable contributions, scoring 175 and taking nine wickets to power India to a big win. With that special performance, he deservedly became the world No 1 all-rounder in Tests displacing Jason Holder.
