ICC T20 World Cup 2021: Unfair To Judge Us On Basis Of One Or Two Games: Ravindra Jadeja
Published - 06 Nov 2021, 11:09 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:00 AM
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja said that it would be unfair to judge the Indian team on a couple of bad games.
On Friday, India clawed their way back in the T20 World Cup after an eight-wicket triumph over Scotland in UAE.
Winning the toss for the first time in the tournament, Virat Kohli opted to field first, and Indian bowlers were lethal in their business.
Jadeja (3/15), with the help of Mohammed Shami (3/15) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/10), folded up Scotland’s innings for 85 in 17.4 overs.
It was a simple basic plan: Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja got the wickets of Scotland’s middle-order with the likes of Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross, and Michael Leask fell to the left-arm spinner.
Jadeja, who was adjudged as the player of the game, said there was no change in his plans for the Scottish batters, and he kept it simple.
“My role was same. I looked to take wickets in middle overs and bowl like how I bowl usually. No change in plans just because we were playing Scotland. It was a simple basic plan. Look to bowl in good areas and let the wicket do the rest,” Jadeja said in the post-match press conference.
Only nine out of the 25 matches in the Super 12 stage have ended with a team having won by defending their total.
Winning the toss has become the new norm in the UAE conditions to hold the upper hand against the opposition by sending them to bat first and with the dew coming in the evening, chasing the target becomes more convenient.
Jadeja admitted that batting first in the tournament is an arduous task and therefore winning the toss is very important.
“In first innings of these games, the ball is stopping and gripping a bit off the surface. If you bat in the second innings, dew makes the track flat and batters then find it very easy,” Jadeja said.
“When you are batting first on these tracks, we are not getting the starts we are used to and when the start is a poor one, it becomes difficult to come back in middle overs. For that, winning toss becomes important and as then you can opt to bat second,” he added.
We will take the positives from those two games: Ravindra Jadeja
India faced sharp criticism from fans and pundits of the game after they lost to Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two games of Group 2.
Jadeja said that judging the team based on two poor games would be very unfair to them and also said they have learnt their mistakes from those two losses.
“If you look at it that way, then in last two to three years, we have played some really good cricket, whether it’s in India or overseas. So it’s not fair to judge us on basis of one or two games,” Jadeja mentioned.
“In T20 cricket, any team can have an odd bad game or two but you can’t think too much about those defeats. You have to move on and think about the opportunities ahead. We will take the positives from those two games and look to play well in future games,” he added.
India will play their final game against Namibia on November 8 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
