India’s first match against Australia at Chepauk in Chennai was a sea of blue with a full house to cheer their home team. Generally, you see yellow in Chennai which is the home ground of CSK. But their hero Ravindra Jadeja made a massive impact on the match, bowling Australia out for 199, picking 3 for 28 and was the best of the three spinners.
The speed at which Jadeja bowls is 90 mph and being so accurate, it’s difficult for the batsmen to cope with such speed and accuracy and that’s what makes Ravindra Jadeja so special. This is the ground on which he has taken more than 100 wickets for his franchise in 9 seasons. During the innings break, Jadeja told the host broadcaster that when he saw the wicket, he wanted to pick minimum two to three wickets and he was glad that he was able to do it for his nation India to rattle the Aussies who were going well at the start with David Warner and Steven Smith. The ball with which he knocked off Steven Smith was a ripper which turned a shade at a speed of almost 100 to beat Smith and knock the stump off. From 110/2 Australia crumbled to 140/7 thanks to the brilliance of Ravindra Jadeja who also got Marcus Labuschgne and Alex Carrey.
Had it not been for Ravindra Jadeja’s strikes, Australia were on track to score 250 plus which would have been challenging on the Chennai wicket and with India losing three quick wickets for almost nothing, Australia would have had the upper hand. There is a reason Ravindra Jadeja is called a 3-D player as he adds impetus in all three departments of the game that is bowling, batting and fielding.
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