Jadeja makes up for Ashwin’s failure Gordon D’Costa

 

Jadeja makes up for Ashwin’s failure

Gordon D’Costa

Mumbai : For the first-time, India’s accomplished wicket-taker Ravichandra Ashwin went without claiming a wicket. He failed to pick up a single wicket in New Zealand’s first innings on the first day of the third and final Test at the Wankhede Stadium, here on Friday.

The veteran off-spinner Ashwin with a bagful of 533 Test wickets from 104 matches was not among the spoils. His teammates Ravindra Jadeja and Sundar Washington combined effectively to bowl out New Zealand for 236 in 65.4 overs on a hot humid day.

With Ashiwn unable to get purchase from the wicket, which offered turn and bounce, skipper Rohit Sharma turned to the left-arm spinner Jadeja to shoulder the responsibility. Jadeja did not disappoint as he responded positively and picked up five wickets for 65 runs from 22 successive overs. This was his 14^th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Sundar played a good supporting role picking four wickets for 81 runs in 18.5 overs.

With 309 wickets before his 77th appearance for India in Test cricket, the artful dodger took his tally to 315 surpassing Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma’s 311 wickets each.

In the previous two Tests in Bengaluru and Pune, he had meagre returns of 3 wickets each, but he took charge of the proceedings on Friday - in the presence of 19,000 spectators - and dismantled the New Zealand innings showing a lot of expertise and guile.

After New Zealand was bowled out for a low score, India failed to extend their advantage and finished at 86 for 4 in 19 overs. Except for Subham Gill batting on 31 runs the top three batsmen Sharma (18), Yashasvi Jaiswal (30), night watchman Mohammed Siraj (0) and Virat Koli (4) all back in the pavilion.

At the post-match press briefing, Jadeja said that one has to be lucky to get wickets on pitches that show bias to spin. “More often the batters get beaten and do not edge. On certain days the ball turns but not much, but one still manages to be among wickets. Today the ball turned right through, and even when the New Zealand spinners were in action. We have lots of work to do in the match. The last six batters have to take India to 235 runs and even more than that."

Jadeja also did well with the bat in the Pune Test; he has to repeat his effort with the bat if India has to get close to New Zealand's first inning score.

Jadeja said the conditions were tough in the middle “It was very hot. There was a time when I couldn’t even hold the ball. But this is how it is at the international level. You have to prepare for these conditions, and you know that when you come to practice. This was the condition even then so as a player, you know what’s going to happen in the match. So, mentally, I was ready that this was going to happen. I can't give you an excuse as to why this is happening. I tried to keep my hands and the ball as dry as possible. It was a little difficult to grip the ball,” he pointed out.

Photo : Indian left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja celebrates with Virat Koli after picking up a New Zealand wicket on the first day of the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium, Churchgate on Friday. Photo courtesy: BCCI