Ex-England leader Michael Vaughan admired Indian player Ravindra Jadeja’s batting performance. This was during Day 1 of the third Test against England in Rajkot.
After walking out to bat with the hosts on 33/3, Jadeja and Rohit Sharma shared a huge partnership (204 runs) to consolidate their innings. He had another significant partnership of 77 runs with Sarfaraz Khan.
Speaking to Cricbuzz after Day 1’s play, Michael Vaughan said Ravindra Jadeja was even more patient than his colleagues in those two large partnerships. Vaughan said:
“Jadeja’s mindset is like a top-order batter despite him playing at No.7 for the most part of his career. He is willing to do the hard yards, he is willing to see a bowler off, he played more traditional style Test match than Rohit Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan. He was a throwback to how we played Test match cricket. Just bat, bat and bat, do not give any chances.”
Michael Vaughan
Jadeja was involved in an unlucky run-out of Sarfaraz Khan, which halted the debutant’s promising 62-run innings. However, the all-rounder remains undefeated on 110, and the hosts currently have 326/5 on the board. Vaughan believes that if India passes the 450-run threshold, the total may be huge.
Michael Vaughan on Ravindra Jadeja’s consistency
Ravindra Jadeja’s batting consistency, particularly on home turf, was highlighted by Michael Vaughan. He believed that when the England bowlers didn’t get assistance from the Rajkot pitch, it was Jadeja who kept adding insult to their injury.
On this, Vaughan stated:
“Ravindra Jadeja is a class act. There is only one area of his game where you can challenge him – a yard outside of off stump, fuller length where you can nip it away. Jimmy and Mark Wood tried that through the day. he played and missed a few. On Indian wickets where there is not a lot of zip, I tink that he is a very very consistent performer.”
Michael Vaughan
At the outset of Day 2, Jadeja is joined by nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav (1*). However, with rookie Dhruv Jurel and Ravichandran Ashwin to follow, it appears like the local kid will need to do the most of the scoring to help India to a large first innings total.