Ravindra Jadeja had a fantastic comeback to international cricket on the first day of the first test match for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He took five wickets while spinning his web around the Australian batting lineup, and the result was an impressive performance. The Australian batting lineup had no chance against Jadeja, and they were wiped out for 177 runs on the opening day. The Australian media, however, found a way to pick out Jadeja for suspicion of wrongdoing after a social media user posted a brief video purporting to show him. Former captain Tim Paine and Englishman Michael Vaughn added fuel to the fire of this allegation. A report from Fox Cricket indicated that Ravindra Jadeja was using “interesting stuff” on his bowling finger during today’s match.
However, team India has cleared the air on the issue and claimed that the ‘substance’ was only an ointment for his injured finger. Due to his lengthy absence—nearly five months—Jadeja is not adjusted to his high level of productivity.
The incident took place in the 46th over of the Australian innings when Australia was playing at 120 at the loss of 5 wickets. Jadeja was to bowl his 16th over before which he took the ‘substance” off Mohammed Siraj’s palm to rub it on his finger in a viral video. Paine, a former Aussie captain, has stepped in on the discussion by calling the incident ‘interesting,’ adding fuel to the fire.
Michael Vaughan also entered the conversation and questioned what Jadeja applied on his finger.
Team India ended the day at 77/1, with Indian captain Rohit Sharma scoring a half-century, while Australia was confined to 177 runs. Thanks to Jadeja’s performance.
Although this wasn’t the first time the Australian media had gone after the Indian squad in this series, they had previously claimed that the ground in Nagpur had been doctored because of a few dry patches. India’s use of DRS in the second over of Day 1 resulted in the dismissal of Usman Khawaja, and Australian media questioned the legitimacy of the technology.
