Former Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur lauded the Indian team management for thinking on their feet and promoting allrounder Ravindra Jadeja to No.4 in their run-chase in Dubai on August 28 for the Group A clash in the Asia Cup 2022.
Chasing a tricky target of 148 on a rare pace-friendly deck in the Middle East, India found themselves 53/3, with both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli gone, near the halfway mark when Jadeja played a very measured knock of 35 off 29 deliveries to help his team navigate home.
The key to Jadeja’s promotion was the make-up of the Pakistani attack, which included wristspinner Shadab Khan and left-arm orthodox Mohammad Nawaz. The latter had accounted for both Rohit and Kohli in his first two overs but couldn’t continue his spell because of the Jadeja factor.
In the 10th over, soon after he dismissed Kohli, Nawaz had been dispatched for a maximum down the ground by Jadeja, who made his intentions very clear. Nawaz did bowl the 12th over, but the left-hander in the middle forced Babar Azam to delay finishing off his quota until the final over of the game, where Hardik Pandya hit him for a six to close off the proceedings in India’s favour.
For Arthur, the fact that the Pakistan skipper couldn’t go through with Nawaz’s spell at a critical juncture in the game made Jadeja’s promotion an influential one to India’s chances.
“The key for me was having a left-hander there in the middle because that meant they [Pakistan] couldn’t bring [Mohammad] Nawaz back. So they had to hold Nawaz to the back-end. And that ultimately probably cost them,”
he said on ESPNcricinfo show ‘T20 Time Out’.
Speaking to Pandya after the match for an interview for BCCI.tv, Jadeja said he was aware of why he has been sent in to bat at No.4 and took his chances early to try and upset the Pakistani spinners, which then disturbed their overall plans.
“When I was promoted in the batting order, I was just thinking of taking my chances against the spinners, attack them at every opportunity I get.
And our partnership was very crucial. We just talked in the middle about backing our strengths and play our shots – this was very crucial.”
Sitting on the show alongside Arthur, out-of-favour Indian batter Robin Uthappa said Pakistan didn’t foresee India sending Jadeja up the batting unit, although using a left-hander in the middle has been integral to head coach Rahul Dravid’s plans for the team.
With the think-tank leaving out Rishabh Pant and retaining Dinesh Karthik in the end-overs aggressor’s role down the order, India’s only option to maintain a left-hander at No.4 was to ask Jadeja to bat up and have a go at the Pakistani spinners, both of whom the turned the ball into him.
While Jadeja couldn’t execute his big hits against Shadab, who delivered a tight line and cramped him for space to the on-side, the left-hander was severe on Nawaz and that made Babar wary of using his frontline spinner for a fourth over.
Uthappa said Pakistan needed to have kept Jadeja’s promotion possibility at the back of their minds and perhaps use one of Nawaz’s overs inside the powerplay when Rohit and Kohli were still settling into their rhythm after the early departure of KL Rahul.
“Nobody I think saw that [Jadeja at No. 4] coming. It was a good call. It was a good move. Something that no one really foresaw. I actually quite like that decision.”
“Going for a bit of Pakistan’s perspective, in hindsight, they could have bowled that one over of the left-arm spinner [Nawaz] in the first six, because they had two right-handers [batting] and it was the right time,”
he added.
