Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar praised all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for his phenomenal performance in the first Test against Australia.
On Friday, February 11, India outclassed Australia by an innings and 132 runs to win 1-0. Ashwin delivered his 31st fifer to shake up Australia’s batting order as their innings dwindled to 91 in 32.3 overs with the match over in three days.
Jadeja, who returned to Test cricket after seven months, starred in the series opener with both bat and ball. He collected figures of 5/47 to script the Australian batsman’s defeat in the second session on Day 1.
The left-handed batsman stitched together several key partnerships in India’s innings to extend his lead to 223 runs. He was involved in a 61-run stand with skipper Rohit Sharma and later paired with fellow all-rounder Axar Patel to frustrate the visitors with their 88-run partnership.
Jadeja reached 70 with the help of nine boundaries before being cleaned up by Todd Murphy on the morning of the third day.
“His wicket has to be earned by the opposition” – Sunil Gavaskar on Ravindra Jadeja
While analyzing the incredible performance of the Indian team in the Nagpur Test on India Today, Gavaskar said that Jadeja has made a great comeback to Test cricket.
Gavaskar said:
“Here is a man who has played regularly for India. He was out of the team through injury, then Axar Patel comes in and grabs his chance and it’s such a fantastic thing for Indian cricket to have strength on the bench where the players are ready.”
He added:
“Jade’s comeback was incredible. We didn’t see much of his fielding as he was in the mid-off and thereabouts. But as a bowler, he was on target from the start. As a batsman, he showed once again that he will score more and more runs for India. His wicket has to be earned by the opposition.”
India will play the second test against Australia from February 17-21 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.