Ravindra Jadeja demonstrated that his Thursday exploits were not the consequence of a so-called “rank turner,” as has been suggested by some, by cleverly using the crease to produce a range of angles that perplexed the Australian batsmen. With the valuable scalps of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, Jadeja collected 5 for 47 in his international comeback as Australia managed only 177 in their first innings on the opening day of the Border-Gavaskar series. “This wasn’t a rank-turner. Compared to other pitches, it was slow and had a low bounce. I felt defending wasn’t very difficult today but as the game progresses, it (defending) will become increasingly difficult. But that’s the nature of Test cricket,” Jadeja said at the end of day’s play.
He then explained how he played mind games with the batters and got the better of them. “I used the crease as not every delivery was turning. And, as I said, the bounce was low, so trying (I tried) to create doubts in the minds of the batters,” he explained. “I was going wide off the crease and coming close to the stumps and some deliveries if they stepped out and it turned, there would always be a chance. Luckily, he (Marnus Labuschagne) stepped out (and) that one (delivery) turned after pitching. And for (Steve) Smith, the ball went straight from that same spot from where I delivered the earlier (Marnus) delivery,” said the man, who is now three shy of 250 Test wickets.
The clever spinner’s plan to keep the Australians guessing about which delivery would turn and which one would come straight with the angle completely succeeded. “Yes, there was natural variation from the wicket, but I tried to mix up the angles so that there was doubt in the batter’s mind,” he said. The objective, according to Jadeja, was to bowl from stump to stump on a low-bounce surface. The spinner continued by saying that after playing a solid Ranji Trophy match for Saurashtra against Tamil Nadu last month, he was pleased with his rhythm. After a five-month injury break, Jadeja returned to the first-class match with seven second-inning wickets.
“I loved the rhythm with which I bowled (today) and the ball came out of my hand quite well, line and length were also accurate since there is no bounce off the track. I preferred bowling stump to stump. On a low-bounce track, there are more chances of the leg before and bowled, and luckily, I got a few leg-before and bowled, so that makes me happy,” he said. “I wouldn’t say this is exactly like the Chennai track (where the Ranji Trophy game was played) but quite similar to it in terms of low bounce. So, the thought process was to bowl stump to stump.”