Sunil Gavaskar has said that Ravindra Jadeja realizing his potential with the bat is “great news” for Indian cricket.
Ravindra Jadeja scored an unbeaten career-best 175 in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali, which was part of a consistent run of performances that the spin-bowling all-rounder has put in over the past two years across formats.
Sunil Gavaskar Reckons Ravindra Jadeja Recognizing His Talent
Ravindra Jadeja climbed to the top of the ICC player Test rankings for all-rounders with a sparkling performance against Sri Lanka in the opening Test in Mohali. The 33-year-old was plain brilliant with both the bat and ball as India thrashed Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
“I think he is recognizing the talent that he has. Sometimes it takes you sometime to realise how much potential you have. He has taken his time, nothing wrong with that, and now he has started to believe a lot more that he can contribute with the bat,” said Sunil Gavaskar on Star Sports before the start of the second Test in Bengaluru.
After his all-round heroics, the Sri Lankan team will already be wary of Ravindra Jadeja and his record in Bengaluru will be making them even more nervous. In Bengaluru, Ravindra Jadeja has played three Test matches and picked 17 wickets, which is the third most for him at any venue.
Ravindra Jadeja has picked more wickets at a single venue in only Mohali (27 wickets) and Delhi (19 wickets). The India all-rounder has maintained an average of 8.88 in Bengaluru and boasts of a remarkable strike-rate of 20.60.
Sunil Gavaskar: Ravindra Jadeja Knows How To Bat And Wants To Translate It Into Test Cricket
Ravindra Jadeja had been a part of India’s T20I World Cup campaign and appeared in the Test series against New Zealand in November. However, an injury forced him out of the side for the away series against South Africa. The all-rounder made a splendid return to the international setup with the limited-overs home series against Sri Lanka, and enjoyed a stellar outing in the first Test against the same side (175*; 5/41 & 4/46).
“175 not out is a big score in any class of cricket. What he said during the end of that day, that he has three triple centuries and two double hundreds. So he knows he can bat and he wants to translate it to Test cricket. Great news for Indian cricket,” said the former India captain Sunil Gavaskar.
Ravindra Jadeja scored an unbeaten 175 off 228 balls in the first Test which propelled India to 574/8 after which he took nine wickets across the two Sri Lankan innings to lead the hosts to a victory by an innings and 222 runs. He was just one wicket short of becoming the first player to score a 150 and take 10 wickets in a Test match.
Ravindra Jadeja, who recently became the world’s top-ranked allrounder, needs nine wickets to complete the double of 250 wickets and 2000-plus runs in Test cricket. But he failed to pick up a wicket on the 1st Day of the 2nd Test and scored only 4 runs off 14 balls.