Indian allrounder Ravindra Jadeja proved his worth once again against West Indies in the first Test match in Antigua. The southpaw slammed his 11th Test fifty to guide India to a respectable total of 297 on Day 2.
Jadeja, who was picked over senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin which sparked debate on social media but the 30-year-old proved his point with a gritty fifty. It was Jadeja's fourth fifty-plus score in his last eight Test innings and skipper Virat Kohli seemed very pleased with his performance.
Jadeja completed his half-century with a boundary followed by his famous 'sword celebration' and Kohli didn't hold back from the dressing room to appreciate the allrounder.
Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar also heaped praises for the southpaw from the commentary box and said "The good thing for Team India is he is taking his role as a batsman more seriously. Look, he has got 3 triple hundreds in first-class cricket. They have come in pretty flat pitches in Rajkot but a triple hundred is still a triple hundred. Because he is batting at No. 8 and No. 8, he had not taken his role seriously. He sees himself as a bowler.
"With the situation that India found itself in, he realised he has to apply. This is only good for India cricket that he will take his role as a batsman seriousl," Gavaskar added.
Earlier, Jadeja and Ishant Sharma frustrated West Indies with a timely 60 run-stand for the eighth wicket, helping India to 297 all out at lunch on day two of the first Test here on Friday.
Jadeja (58 off 112) and Ishant (19 off 62) were able to negotiate the threat posed by the potent pace duo of Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach after losing Rishabh Pant (24) in the second over of the day.
Jadeja's innings comprised six fours and a maximum before he became the last man to be dismissed in the Indian innings, leading to lunch.
