Pragyan Ojha decodes Ravindra Jadeja, who bagged a 4-wicket haul in the 1st innings, praising his changed and improved action on Day 2 of the 3rd Test.
In the opening day of the Sydney Test, Australia batted 55 overs with 166/2 on the board but India led by Ravindra Jadeja bounced back by dismissing Australia for 338 before India posted 90/2 at end of 2nd day’s play.
Pragyan Ojha: Ravindra Jadeja Was Brilliant By Bowling His Strength Keeping Things Tight
Ravindra Jadeja had only bowled 3 overs with two maidens on Day 1. But on the 2nd Day, the Indian off-spinner came back as a new and improved version of himself to pick up the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne who was short of ton by 9 runs and Matthew Wade in the 1st session.
He went on to dismiss Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon without scoring taking Australia’s score to 315/ 9 from a point when they were 206/2. Former India cricketer Pragyan Ojha has heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja and has decoded the changed and improved action that got him 4 wickets on Day 2.
“He brilliant you know. If you see, yesterday he was kind of, I thought, he was trying a bit more. But today if you see, he must have realized, spoken to the bowling coach, maybe seen his videos and check where the balls he had bowled the previous day were landing.”
“So I think he’s come back with a plan and that’s what he has done. He has bowled to his strength and his strength his keep things very tight. Bowl to the stump and not bowl any easy deliveries and that’s how he got his wickets,” Pragyan Ojha said on Sports Today.
Ravindra Jadeja, whose career-best figure is 7/48 against England in 2016 where he picked 10-wicket match haul for first and only time had picked 5-wicket haul in an innings 9 times.
Ravindra Jadeja Picks 4 Wicket Haul Besides Running Out Centurion Steve Smith
Besides his 4/62, Ravindra Jadeja also dismissed centurion Steve Smith (131) with a stunning direct hit, bringing Australia’s innings to an end at 338.
Pragyan Ojha drew a comparison to his use of his shoulders for those amazing athletic moves on the field, believing he used his shoulder for generating that extra pace that got him important wickets.
“Yes, there was bounce in Jadeja’s ball. But more than that it was, if you see previous deliveries he was bowling a little short and slow. And if you see the pace that he generated off the wicket was more than the deliveries that he was hit for boundaries. So I think, he used little bit of his wrist and his shoulders to generate that pace,” Pragyan Ojha added.
“Maybe he wanted to do that, he wanted to get the better of the batsmen. That’s what I felt, there was a slight increase in his pace. That is because Jadeja has a lovely shoulder, the way he throws the ball, the way he has power in his fielding. So he used little bit more of his shoulder. That’s what you do on a slow wicket to generate that extra pace,” he stated.
Ravindra Jadeja thus (18-3-62-4) produced his 3rd best figures in Tests away from home.