Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja feels that Chepauk’s pitch for the opening game against Australia played like a test match wicket in the Indian conditions. The left-arm spinner rattled the Australia batting order to help the Men in Blue restrict the five-time champions for 199 runs in the 1st innings.
Ravindra Jadeja’s remarkable delivery bamboozled Steve Smith by smashing the top of the off-stump followed by Marnus Labuschagne getting caught behind by KL Rahul and trapping Alex Carey in front of the wickets to reduce the Australian side to 119/5 from 110/2 in India’s World Cup opener.
Speaking at the press conference, Ravindra Jadeja said that he analysed wickets in the first few years and then wanted to keep it in the stump line against the Australian batters of which the oddballs would turn from the surface, which would make things difficult for the team.
“When I started the first over, the ball was stopping after falling a little slow. I thought it was the afternoon, it was hot and the wicket was dry.
“I thought a stump line would be better. From here some balls would turn, and some would go straight so it won’t be easy for the batsman to line up. This was my plan that I should bowl at the stumps and luckily the ball to Smith turned a little more,” Ravindra Jadeja said.
The left-handed all-rounder has been brilliant with the ball for the Men in Blue in ODI cricket, he took 15 wickets for a 4.94 economy rate before the match against Australia and impressed everyone with his spin bowling skills which helped the Indian team to restrict the Australian team to a below par total in their opening game of the World Cup.
I Was Thinking That This Is A Test Match Bowling Wicket – Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja revealed that he planned to keep things simple in the game and wanted to bowl the test match length in the match as the surface in Chennai was offering the turn.
“So, my plan was simple I was thinking that this is a Test match bowling wicket. I shouldn’t experiment too much because everything was happening on the wicket. So, I was trying to bowl it stump to stump,” Ravindra Jadeja added.
Along with Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin were the other two spinners who equally contributed to the team. Together, the trio took six wickets in 30 overs, while Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Siraj were equally good with the ball. Bumrah went on to pick two wickets, whereas, Siraj and Pandya bagged wicket apiece.