While Ravindra Jadeja’s stunning return to international cricket has taken many by surprise, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has said that he is not one of them.
The India allrounder made his return to international cricket during the recently-concluded first Test against Australia at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. It was his first game for Team India since he suffered a knee injury in August last year.
With the 34-year old returning to international cricket after a long gap of of 6 months, not many had expected him to do as well as he did. Ravindra Jadeja hit the ground running in Nagpur and finished the game as the best performer. He made his mark with both bat and ball to walk away with the Man of the Match trophy.
Ravindra Jadeja picked up 5 wickets in the first innings to help India bowl out Australia for just 177. He then scored crucial 70 runs to help India pile up 400 runs before taking 2 more wickets in the second innings as India thrashed Australia by an innings and 132 runs to take the lead in the 4-match series.
Ricky Ponting on Ravindra Jadeja’s comeback:
Ricky Ponting has said that he was not surprised by Ravindra Jadeja’s stunning return to international cricket. In fact, the legendary captain said that he knew the allrounder would be a nightmare for Australia in Nagpur.
The basis of Ponting’s analysis was Ravindra Jadeja’s performance in Ranji Trophy just before the first Test. The star allrounder played against Tamil Nadu to prove his fitness and performed really well. Jadeja had picked eight wickets, seven of which came in the second innings.
“I had seen his return to first-class cricket last week and he got some 11 wickets or something. As soon as I saw that I knew Aussies were in for a nightmare,” Ricky Ponting told ICC.
“Because of how he [Jadeja] bowls on those sort of wickets – the pace that he bowls, the line that he bowls to right-handers in particular, where he is pitching the ball on the stumps all the time, and one would turn and one will slide on, like we saw, with the dismissal of Steven Smith today.
“I mean they’re two identical deliveries. One just happened to turn and the other one went straight on and went back through the gate and bowled him,” added Ponting as he analysed Jadeja’s performance on Day 1.
Speaking further, Ponting made a prediction for Jadeja. The former captain stated that the allrounder could finish the series as the highest wicket-taker, saying:
“As the series goes on, if his body holds up and he can get through the four Test matches, I think he could very well be the leading wicket-taker in this entire series.”
Meanwhile, the second Test between India and Australia is scheduled to be played in Delhi from February 16.