"Ravindra Jadeja played more traditionally than Rohit Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan.."- Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan heaped praise on India’s premier all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for being extremely consistent with his batting performances, especially on home conditions. Vaughan made these comments in the light of Jadeja’s sensational 4th Test century against England on day 1 of the 3rd Test of a 5-match series here in Rajkot.

Ravindra Jadeja is taking part in his 3rd ever international red-ball match at the Saurashtra cricket stadium which was renamed to the Niranjan Shah stadium yesterday. At his home ground, Jadeja smashed his 2nd international hundred and first since October 2018 when he remained 100* against the West Indies in the 1st of a 2-match series.

“Ravindra Jadeja is a class act. There is only one area of his game where you can challenge him – a yard outside of off stump, fuller length where you can nip it away. Jimmy and Mark Wood tried that through the day.” – Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

The homeboy is coming after a short injury break he sustained during day 4 of the 1st Test in Hyderabad. While trying to complete a single towards the non-striker’s end before Ben Stokes came up with a darting throw to hit the stumps, Jadeja had pulled up sore on his right Hamstring. It was a grade 1 injury that didn’t require much attention but it was bad enough to keep him out of India’s XI in the 2nd Test.

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In the 3rd Test after Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat, Ravindra Jadeja who originally came out to bat at number 6 or 7, had to arrive at the middle as a number 5 following a top-order collapse which saw Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Rajat Patidar get out for scores of 10, 0 and 5 respectively.

The onus was then upon Jadeja and the skipper himself to steady India’s ship from enduring further damage against an English bowling battery which had stepped out with both pacers – James Anderson and Mark Wood. Jadeja and Rohit played extremely well, showed a lot of patience, and negotiated the spinners very well with the latter scoring a much-needed century before becoming Wood’s 3rd scalp for 131 for 196 balls.

After the 204-run partnership with Rohit, Ravindra Jadeja then stood for a 77-run partnership with debutant Sarfaraz Khan who got out for 62 through a run-out in order to facilitate a run for Jadeja to complete his century. It was perhaps the only mistake Jaddu made throughout the innings but he scored his 4th Test ton and closed off day 1 on a high note for the home team.

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“He was a throwback to how we played Test match”, Vaughan praises Ravindra Jadeja for his batting style

Ravindra Jadeja’s knock intrigued Michael Vaughan to further appreciate him for his willingness to do the hard work for his side and stated that the left-hander batter has the mindset of a top-order batter.

“Jadeja’s mindset is like a top-order batter despite him playing at No.7 for the most part of his career. He is willing to do the hard yards, he is willing to see a bowler off, he played more traditional style Test match than Rohit Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan. He was a throwback to how we played Test match cricket. Just bat, bat and bat, do not give any chances.” – Vaughan concluded.

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