Indian all-rounder Kedar Jadhav failed to put up a decent performance in the 4th ODI against New Zealand on Wednesday which saw the kiwis go 2-2 level in the 5 match series. Jadhav hails his mantra of accepting challenges as the key to his recent success for the men in blue. The off spinners economy rate throughout the series has been nothing short of magnificent and has bagged a number of six wickets giving away only 73 runs.
“It’s all about taking this responsibility and accepting the challenge that comes at you and then, coming out of the challenge successfully.”
The player also feels it is very important to take up responsibilities when the team needs it. Kedar, who is playing in place of Suresh Raina had been asked to bowl for the first time by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the series opener. He feels that a player must step up and contribute in every possible way for his team to provide his team with more options.
Jadhav quoted “Here, you need to contribute if the captain is asking you to bowl (some) overs. You don’t have to bowl (just) as a part-time bowler. You need to take the responsibility with the ball or bat”.
“I guess when you play for India, you have to contribute in every possible way you can. While playing in the IPL, I do that with wicketkeeping – by contributing rather than batting”
According to the all-rounder, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni asked him to bowl as he wanted a few overs to be bowled by his batsmen. This helps the team when a recognized bowler is not having it his way on a particular day. Jadhav also spoke about his action which he varies according to the batsmen.
“It’s both – a bit of my action and the pace I vary according to the batsmen that makes it difficult (for them) to read I guess. Mahi bhai asked me to bowl. Obviously Mahi wants few bowlers from the top five or six batsmen to bowl at least 4-5 overs. If a bowler has a bad day, it helps (the team) you know.”
Jadhav’s performance with the bat has not been that impressive as the series have progressed. But he is looking forward to performing with the bat as well in the decider at Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
“Obviously, the opportunity has been missed, especially in the last game. But it’s still early stages for Manish (Pandey) and me. We need to grab whatever opportunity is thrown at us. We need to learn quickly from the opportunities we have missed. That’s what international cricket is all about delivering when it matters most to the team.”
Jadhav also expressed his love for the sweep shot saying that it is his ‘natural’ shot. He identifies the shot as his strength as it is easy to play the sweep when a bowler is bowling to the pads. It earns the team an obvious boundary if the ball goes past the one fielder behind the square.
Jadhav ruled out the sayings that the team is overdependent on Virat Kohli. The middle order batsmen feels it all about taking the responsibility when needed and India has too many quality batsmen to take up the task.