England vs India 2018, 5th Test: Wanted to Bat as Long as Possible - Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja, perhaps, was the missing link towards India’s victory chances in those couple of games at Edgbaston and Southampton against England. The knock he played at The Kennington Oval alongside Hanuma Vihari showed the team management of what he is capable of doing for the team.

When the things looked bleak for Team India at London, Ravindra Jadeja in the presence of the debutant Hanuma Vihari added a crucial partnership to lift the Indian souls by cutting short the trail runs in the first innings.

I and Hanuma Vihari wanted to spend time in the middle – Ravindra Jadeja

The stylish southpaw quoted he, and the latest recruit, Hanuma Vihari wanted to spend time in the middle as long as possible. He wanted the youngster and himself to deal with James Anderson and Stuart Broad well who just came into their zone.

Further, the Saurashtra player, Ravindra Jadeja added the plan was pretty simple to stay at the crease. He showered words of praise on English bowlers for making the life hard for batsmen as well.

”I think me and Hanuma Vihari played well. Initially, when we are new to the crease, me and Hanuma Vihari planned to spend the time in the crease. James Anderson and Stuart Broad bowled well with the ball swinging. We just looked to play as long as we can for the team,” Ravindra Jadeja said as per ESPN Cricinfo.

”It is all about Pride. ‘The pride to play for the country. I think me and Vihari played for that without looking at the scorecard. Yeah, I am playing after a long time. I just tried to play a normal game and tried to focus ball by ball,” Ravindra Jadeja said when asked about playing after 3-1 loss.

Ravindra Jadeja speaks on his celebration after fifty:

After a long time, the team management finally put their thumbs up to Ravindra Jadeja. Meanwhile, he responded immediately by knocking a glamourous unbeaten 86*.

After reaching fifty, he did his trademark celebration, but this time, he added a bit of humour to it as well.

”After a long time, I did. So, I need to rub all the dust on my bat,” Jadeja said. Speaking of batting with the tail, he added that ”It is really tough to bat with tail-enders. You need to keep the count in mind and ask the bowler to play the last couple of balls. You need to calculate a lot of things,” he inferred.

However, Ravindra Jadeja showed his class with his willow and was impressive with his bowling as well. All in all, he made his case stronger to be in the playing XI with his impressive show at The Kennington Oval, London.