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'Jadeja apna pehla Test match khel raha tha kya?' India all-rounder taunted, 'should have listened to Javed Miandad'
A former Pakistan cricketer feels Ravindra Jadeja should have more intent.
For the second time in England, Ravindra Jadeja found himself waging a lone battle. While all the rage was about England, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and how exactly six years after winning the 2019 World Cup, they pulled a rabbit out of the hat again, what many forgot that six years ago, Jadeja too had found himself in a similar position, shepherding India’s chase of 240 against New Zealand in the semi-final at Manchester with MS Dhoni. Unfortunately for India, both times, Jadeja found himself short, and this time through no fault of his own.
He had batted brilliantly with the lower order, perhaps the best since VVS Laxman. At 112/8, when it seemed it was only a matter of time before the Indian innings and the game were done and dusted, Jadeja added 35 runs with Jasprit Bumrah and 23 more with Mohammed Siraj. The fact that India were able to push the match into the final session spoke volumes about their stomach for a fight, but certain former cricketers feel that perhaps Jadeja could have shown a little more aggression. He batted 181 balls for 61 not out, bringing India on the doorstep of victory, losing by 22 runs – the narrowest defeat ever at Lord’s. However, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali feels Jadeja could have taken a leaf out of Javed Miandad’s book, which could have taken India over the line.
"Were the fielders outside the circle? If yes, then there isn’t much he could have done. However, Javed Miandad once said that when you are batting with the tail and the field comes in, go for boundaries in the last two balls of the over. Bumrah and Siraj were doing a good job, and he was farming strike and trusting them enough to make them face 2-3 balls every over. So if he was confident of them hanging around, he should have gone after boundaries. He should have listened to Miandad,” he said on the YouTube channel ‘The Game Plan’.
"Yeh Jadeja ka pehla Test match tha kya? (Was this Jadeja’s first Test match?) If not, then he should have done better. With that amount of experience, he should have gone for boundaries in the last two balls of each over.”
Kamran Akmal agrees
Kamran Akmal, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper, shared similar thoughts. He reckons Jadeja could have struck more big hits, especially when he was being tempted by Joe Root and Shoaib Bashir. While there is no denying that Jadeja is batting at his best – he has scored four half-centuries in a row – a little more intent could have gone a long way, believes Kamran.
“Jadeja could have taken a few more chances. When Shoaib Bashir or Joe Root was bowling, he just left it. They were flighting the ball, but Jadeja did not charge. He should have struck a few sixes down the ground, at least. Slog sweeps went missing too. Had he shown a little more courage, he could have taken India to a win. When Ben Stokes had won that game against Australia at the Ashes, I felt he was about to do the same,” he said.
