Edgbaston| Once called out as a bits and pieces player, Jamnagar-based allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has made it a habit to rise to the occasion and deliver when the team is in trouble. Ravindra Jadeja had a rough start to 2022 when he was handed over the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings and was replaced by the experienced MS Dhoni midway. As a result, Jadeja missed out on the remaining IPL and reports surfaced that he was extremely unhappy with how things were handled around him.
Plagued by injury concerns, Jadeja missed the T20I series against South Africa and he was straightaway sent to the United Kingdom for India's English tour. The one-off Test match between India and England which is being played at Edgbaston is part of the Test series that India played in the United Kingdon last year. Due to a severe COVID outbreak in England, the Test match was postponed and is being played this year ahead of the T20I and ODI series.
Skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl first and his bowlers delivered straightaway. The likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Matty Potts left India reeling on 98-5. Jadeja walked in with the flamboyant Rishabh Pant on the other side. With Pant smacking the red cherry all over the ground, Jadeja was determined to hold on to one end and he remained not out with 83 runs off 163 deliveries. Both Pant and Jadeja stitched together a partnership of 222 runs and rescued India's ship from sinking.
Rishabh Pant departed on 146, but Jadeja kept on going hard on the English batting. When play resumed on day 2 of this final Test match, Jadeja took the onus upon himself to score runs with the tail batting. Jadeja scored a gritty century in this final Test match and this is one innings that will be a part of Jadeja's folklore, an innings that cements the fact that he is one underrated batsman.
