Ravindra Jadeja has rarely made a mistake in the ongoing Test series against Australia. The left-arm spinner returned to international cricket through the ongoing series after a lengthy spell on the sidelines and he hit the ground running.
He won the Man of the Match in the first two Tests after impressing with both bat and ball. In the first Test in Nagpur, he picked up 7 wickets including 5 in the first innings and also played a crucial 70-run knock as India thrashed the visitors by an innings and 132 runs.
In the second Test in Delhi, the star player picked up 10 wickets including 7 in the second innings in addition to scoring 26 runs to help India win the game by 6 wickets.
Ravindra Jadeja’s huge mistake:
Ravindra Jadeja is on course to be India’s best bowler in the first innings of the ongoing third Test too. However, his rare mistake on day one of the game could cost India really big. While he picked up all the 4 Australian wickets that fell on day one, he also made the criminal mistake of bowling a front-foot no-ball and it really made things tough for India.
After being bowled out for a paltry 109, India started well with the ball. Jadeja struck in his very first over to remove Travis Head. And in his second over, he dismissed Marnus Labuschagne too after the latter bottom-edged a short delivery into the stumps.
A wicket at that stage would have surely put Australia firmly on the backfoot. However, the umpire quickly confirmed that Jadeja had bowled a no-ball, thus giving a huge reprieve to Labuschagne. The right-handed batsman was yet to open his account at that time.
Had Jadeja not overstepped, Australia would have been 2 down for just 14. Following the reprieve, Labuschagne combined with Usman Khawaja to bat his team to a position of strength. He and Khawaja added 96 runs for the second wicket to ensure that the visitors take a first-innings lead.
This is not the first time in the ongoing series that Jadeja has picked up a wicket on a no-ball. In the first Test, he had bowled Steve Smith during the second innings only for the dismissal to be overturned due to a no-ball.
Australia went on to finish the day on 156 for 4 with their lead extending to 47 runs. The visitors will be looking to extend their lead further on day 2.