Premier Indian allrounder Ravindra Jadeja gave an interesting backdrop to skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to declare the Indian first-innings against Sri Lanka in the Mohali Test on Saturday (March 5). India declared their innings with Jadeja stranded on 175 not out, missing an opportunity to record his maiden Test double hundred.
Rohit faced the wrath of Indian fans on social media, as they felt there was enough time in the game to not only allow Jadeja to get his double but also push for a victory against an inexperienced visiting side.
But hours later, Jadeja revealed, it was him who asked his skipper to declare at that point as the ball had begun to play tricks on the surface used in Mohali. Jadeja said he conveyed his message to Rohit through substitute Kuldeep Yadav, before the captain took the ultimate call and ended the innings with India 574/8.
“Yeah there was a message coming from inside and I was also telling them. When I was batting, balls had started taking spin and there was variable bounce. So I told them that the wicket is playing tricks and we should put them [Sri Lanka] into bat now itself,”
Jadeja told the press in a post-day interaction.
Jadeja said he made a conscious effort to raise the tempo of his innings as the play went deeper into Day 2, with the idea being to put Sri Lanka in early and give the Indian bowling attack enough time to take 20 wickets.
“They (Sri Lanka) were on the field for almost two days and were naturally tired. So it wouldn’t have been easy for them to come out and start playing shots and stay further on the field. So our plan was to score quickly and declare as soon as possible,”
he added.
Jadeja, who has been an allrounder on the rise in Test cricket over the last five years, also broke a longstanding record held by the legendary Kapil Dev. His 175 not out is now the highest ever score recorded by an Indian No.7 or below in Test cricket.
