India vs Australia 1st Test, Day 1: Ravindra Jadeja bowled with ‘different angles, although there was a natural variation in the wicket.’ Jadeja had taken seven wickets in the second innings of the Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu last month.
Nagpur: Due to the initial day’s turn not happening in the first Test against Australia, Ravindra Jadeja had to be used from the crease to put pressure on the batsmen. Nearly five months after his return to international cricket, Jadeja scored 47 runs and took five wickets. The innings included valuable wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. The Australian team scored 177 runs in the first innings of the first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. After the first day’s play, Jadeja said, “This wasn’t a turning pitch. It was slow compared to the other pitches and there was less bounce. As the game progresses, it will be difficult to keep the target in mind, but that’s how it is in Test cricket.”
He said, “I used the crease because not every delivery was turning. The bounce was also slow, so I gave the batsmen a confusion.” Jadeja said, “I was coming out of the crease and hitting the ball towards the stumps. This way, the batsmen had to come out of their crease to play and there was a chance of getting a wicket. Labuschagne and Smith made this mistake.” They said that their plan was for the Australian to remain in this confusion as to which delivery would turn and which would be straight.
Jadeja said, “There was natural diversity in the wickets, but I also tried different angles.” Last month, Jadeja played the Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu and took seven wickets in the second innings. He said, “I played well with the ball today. The ball was coming well from my hand and the length was also accurate. I tried to play some good shots on the stump.” Jadeja said that breaking the partnership between Smith and Labuschagne was in his mind. They were trying to build a partnership and it was not easy to play the stroke play. They were trying different things. The run rate was not coming and I had to play disciplined cricket to break this partnership.