User's blog
  • Home
  • Blog
    • India Cricket Highlights
    • ICC Match
    • T 20 Match
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms And Conditions
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Blog
    • India Cricket Highlights
    • ICC Match
    • T 20 Match
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms And Conditions
No Result
View All Result
User's blog
No Result
View All Result
Home India Cricket Highlights

Ravindra Jadeja Is A World-Class Test Batter And That Shouldn’t Surprise Anyone Anymore

Babu Cricket by Babu Cricket
July 3, 2022
in India Cricket Highlights
0 0
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Ravindra Jadeja scored a sumptuous hundred at Edgbaston, silencing those who doubted his overseas record. His elevation in status as a world-class Test batter – not just an all-rounder – shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone anymore, writes Shashwat Kumar.

Almost a decade ago, when Jadeja made his Test debut as a precocious youngster against England at Nagpur, there was considerable hype. That season, he had scored truckloads of runs in the domestic circuit. When he made his Test bow, though, he was primarily used as a front-line spinner.

At that juncture, Jadeja was the only cricketer to have scored three triple hundreds in the Ranji Trophy. But because he was so good with the ball, and was only intermittently successful with the bat in international cricket, he was perceived as a bowler who could bat and contribute handy runs lower down the order.

In Test cricket, that potential surfaced often enough to remind people of what he was capable of. A prime example was the onslaught at Lord’s in 2014. Not only did he counter-attack, he ensured India put up a fourth-innings total that they would ultimately defend. However, those knocks were not particularly regular, meaning that the narrative around him didn’t particularly change.

Jadeja almost always batted as if he didn’t have the time or the technique to outlast bowlers of international class. Over the past few years, though, Jadeja has done everything to ensure that that is no longer the case. He has scored runs for India. He has scored them in difficult circumstances, and he has scored them with the sort of composure and maturity associated with a world-class batter.

Since the start of 2018, Jadeja has the second-highest average of any Indian batter to have scored a minimum of 500 runs in Tests. Only Rohit Sharma has a better corresponding tally. Jadeja’s strike-rate in Test cricket during this period is 55.79, which is lower than his career strike rate of 59.78, hinting that he is more content to bat with more patience in this phase of his career.

When talking about runs at No.6 and 7, Jadeja’s numbers are unrivalled. During this period, he has scored 948 runs from those positions. He averages 55.76, which is the best of any batter to have scored a minimum of 500 runs in those slots. Babar Azam, who stands second in the list, averages 47.81, indicating how special Jadeja has been for India.

The all-rounder also has the seventh-best average (minimum 500 runs scored) among all middle-order batters (Nos 4-7) in Test cricket since the start of 2018. Of those above him, only Babar, Angelo Matthews and Joe Root have more fifty-plus scores than Jadeja (three centuries and six fifties).

At Edgbaston, Jadeja gave a perfect exhibition of the changes he has implemented. India found themselves in all sorts of trouble at 98-5. James Anderson had the ball on a string and Matthew Potts was impeccable with his lines and lengths. So much rested on Jadeja and Rishabh Pant, and the pair delivered in grand fashion.

While Pant understandably hogged the limelight for his audacious stroke-play, Jadeja was his serene self at the other end. It’s very difficult to curb the temptation to match Pant shot for shot, especially if you are as gifted a stroke-maker as Jadeja. But he left deliveries outside off stump confidently. He rarely poked at balls away from his body and whenever the bowlers ventured into his half, he was brutal.

He was also excellent against Stuart Broad who boasts an excellent recent record against left-handers in Test cricket. At Edgbaston, though, Jadeja lined them up so well that they had to search for alternative wicket-taking opportunities – an endeavour that opened up scoring chances for the Indian all-rounder.

It was quite revealing that Anderson noted Jadeja was batting like a “proper batter”. In isolation, it was an appreciative comment borne out of ultimate respect.

But here’s the catch. There should never have been a conversation about whether Jadeja batted like a proper batter or not because, well, he is a proper batter. He’s done that so many times in first-class cricket that it can’t be written off as an anomaly. And now, he has carried over that form into Test cricket – a journey that has taken time but one he was always expected to undertake successfully.

When he made his debut in 2012 at Nagpur, former India captain MS Dhoni said that Jadeja needed time to enhance his batting skills, emphasising that he would, one day, become the all-rounder India craved in Test cricket. Jadeja has long scaled that peak and he might have unlocked his potential as a world-class batter too. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone anymore either.

Critics will still find some loophole to pin him down and suggest that he hasn’t quite done enough to warrant that tag. The numbers, visual evidence and current perception, though, paint a very different story.

He hasn’t suddenly evolved into a batter many thought he couldn’t become. It’s just that he has developed into the world-class batter he could always be. Jadeja has started believing in that narrative, and on this evidence, almost everyone will buy into it too.

Babu Cricket

Babu Cricket

Next Post

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc opens up on why he regularly skips IPL and BBL

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Pakistan Junior League 2022 Schedule: Full List Of Fixtures And Match Timings For PJL 2022

October 3, 2022

Watch: Naseem Shah Walked Off The Field In Tears After Injury But Completed His Over

August 31, 2022

Asia Cup 2022 Schedule, Time, And Venues

August 12, 2022

WATCH: Virat Kohli celebrates in a special way after ending the 1021-day century drought

September 10, 2022

Girls’s IPL Groups Title

0

Injured Black Cap Nicholls to travel to England for Test series

0

Klopp lauds ‘machine’ Mane as forward linked with summer move

0

Women’s T20 Challenge: Five players from Senior Women’s T20 Trophy who should make the cut

0

Girls’s IPL Groups Title

January 28, 2023

SA vs ENG [Twitter reactions]: Jason Roy’s ton in useless after Rassie van der Dussen’s high quality century in 1st ODI

January 28, 2023

West Indies Championship 2023 Schedule: Full Fixtures Listing

January 28, 2023

IND vs AUS: Jason Gillespie explains why he needs to see Virat Kohli-Pat Cummins battle in upcoming Checks

January 28, 2023

Recommended

Girls’s IPL Groups Title

January 28, 2023

SA vs ENG [Twitter reactions]: Jason Roy’s ton in useless after Rassie van der Dussen’s high quality century in 1st ODI

January 28, 2023

West Indies Championship 2023 Schedule: Full Fixtures Listing

January 28, 2023

IND vs AUS: Jason Gillespie explains why he needs to see Virat Kohli-Pat Cummins battle in upcoming Checks

January 28, 2023

About

Dhoni led India to a five-run victory over England with in ICC Champions Trophy final. In 2016, India won the Asia Cup, demonstrating their flexibility and adaptability.

Categories

  • All Stars Cricket Score
  • Board Of Control For Cricket In India
  • Cricket Highlights India
  • Cricket Icc T20
  • Cricket Match Icc
  • Cricket Match Live Ipl
  • Cricket Rules And Regulations
  • Cricket Update
  • Cricket Wireless Authorized Retailer
  • England Cricket Team
  • ICC Cricket World Cup
  • ICC Match
  • India Cricket Highlights
  • India Cricket Matches
  • India Cricket Team For Icc T20 World Cup
  • India Cricket Team Players
  • India England Cricket
  • India England Cricket Score
  • India Next Cricket Match Schedule
  • India Test Cricket
  • Indian National Cricket Team
  • International Cricket Council
  • Ipl Cricket Icc
  • Live Cricket Score
  • Pakistan Cricket
  • T 20 Match
  • Test Cricket Score
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Girls’s IPL Groups Title
  • SA vs ENG [Twitter reactions]: Jason Roy’s ton in useless after Rassie van der Dussen’s high quality century in 1st ODI
  • West Indies Championship 2023 Schedule: Full Fixtures Listing
No Result
View All Result

Copyrights2022 All rights reserved by Sona Cricket

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Blog
    • India Cricket Highlights
    • ICC Match
    • T 20 Match
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms And Conditions

Copyrights2022 All rights reserved by Sona Cricket

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In