India unearthed an absolute gem in the form of Kedar Jadhav during the ODI series against England in January this year. The problem of the flurry needed lower down the order had been worrying India for well over 2 years and with MS Dhoni’s finishing skills on the wane with every passing match, the men in blue were on the hunt for an able finisher who could step into Dhoni’s role and make that position his own.
Chasing a total slightly above 350 on a humid evening in Pune and after India was reduced 63-4, Kedar Jadhav played one of the most mind-blowing ODI innings of all time as he decimated England’s bowling attack and his aggression was so fierce that England had no plan B for it. From there on, Jadhav just rose up in stature as a finisher and throughout that series, made that finisher’s role his own.
In England for the ICC Champions Trophy though, the conditions wouldn’t be as easy as they were at home. The cloudy surroundings will assist the Pacers surely, but that hasn’t deteriorated Jadhav’s confidence one bit. On the sidelines at the Oval, the Maharashtra batsman spoke about excelling in England.
“My thinking is, if a ball is there to be hit, it has to go to the boundary or runs have to be scored. There won’t be too many balls where you can score. So I don’t want to lose an opportunity to score. So I’ll always be looking for the scoring opportunities,” said Jadhav, signalling his ambitions right from the very offset.
Opening up on the technical aspects of playing in England, he said,
“Here I have seen, whichever batsman was batting in the middle it was never like at some point in time he was settled. Every run you have to work hard here, especially when the weather changes.” “In the practice, I’m trying to play as close to my body as I can and not throw my bat too early. In India, you can just throw your bat and still find the middle of the bat. But here you need to stick close to your body and play under your head,” he added.
The finisher mentioned that despite looking for quick runs, it was essential for him to take care of the basics, something he has mastered in after spending years in the Indian domestic circuit.
“For that you have to have an attacking frame of mind but technically you have to bat like you are in a Test match or a Ranji Trophy first-class game where you have to leave whenever there is a good ball or a swinging ball and whenever there is scoring opportunity you have to take it,” he concluded.