India spinner Ravi Ashwin reckoned that Ravindra Jadeja has shown a whole lot of improvement as his career has progressed. Jadeja won the Player of the Match award after India defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs in the opening Test at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.
After Jadeja’s brilliance, it took the hosts less than three days to wrap up proceedings. With the win, India also continued their unbeaten run against the Islanders in Test cricket at home. Ashwin, who also played a critical part in the game, felt that Jadeja should bat higher up the order.
In India’s first innings, Jadeja batted at No.7 and scored an unbeaten 228-ball 175 with the help of 17 fours and one six. On the back of the southpaw’s innings, India racked up a massive first innings score of 574/8 declared. From there on India didn’t look back and kept turning the screws.
While Jadeja and Ashwin did most of the work in the spin department, India’s third spinner, Jayant Yadav, returned wicketless. Ashwin felt that Yadav was a tad under-bowled in the game.
Ravindra Jadeja knows what he is doing: Ravi Ashwin
“He has really come a long way in the last four-five years. I think his position is a little low for the way he is batting at the moment. He knows what he is doing and it reflects in the way he is batting. In between we both realized that Jayant hasn’t bowled a lot. For someone who is our third spinner, it was important to look after him. Jaddu decided that he would give up his overs and give him a go,” Ashwin said.
As far as Jadeja is concerned, he became only the third Indian player to score 150 plus runs in an innings and pick up a five-wicket haul. The other two players are Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar. Jadeja also picked up four wickets in the second innings.
Ashwin had a decent outing as well. The 35-year-old picked up six wickets and also scored a handy 82-ball 61 in India’s first innings with the help of eight fours. The second Test is scheduled to get underway on March 12 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The game is a Day-Night affair. Prior to the Tests, India also won the T20I series 3-0.
