New Delhi [India], August 11 : Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja continued his renaissance as a batter, delivering his best-ever outing during recent Test series in England and joining a list of legends, and playing some of his best innings under immense pressure as the most experienced veteran of the team.
Jadeja ended the series as the fourth-highest run-getter, with 516 runs in five matches and 10 innings at an average of 86.00, with 107* as his best score. He produced a century and five fifties during the series and among the batters to have scored 500 or more runs.
-Jadeja's England tour at a glance
The first Test at Leeds was a disappointment, with scores of11 and 25* and just one wicket and scored four successive half-centuries. in his next two tests at Birmingham and Lord's,
At Birmingham, his marathon partnerships with skipper Shubman Gill, laid down the foundation for India setting a massive 608 run target for England, which looked like Everest right from ball one. He posted 89 and 69* unbeaten.
If Birmingham was about enjoying a surfeit of runs, then the Lord's fixture presented before the world a side of Jadeja world has witnessed so many times. He just managed to take it a few notches more. In the first innings, it was his lower-order stands with all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar which helped India match England's first innings total of 387 runs. He scored a vital 72 in 131 balls, with eight fours and a six. While chasing 193, India was down 82/7. From there, it was Jadeja's resilience, his sheer determination and fighting spirit was at the peak.
Having support of tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who played out a combined 84 deliveries in their supporting act, Jadeja attempted to shave off majority of the runs and made Indian locker room dare to dream of a series lead. His 181-ball stay at the crease was one of immense mental fortitude, patience and almost chanceless. While he was stranded at 61* after Siraj's stumps were undone in the most unluckiest manner, Jadeja had shown the that he was a warrior indeed and his sword celebration was not merely a celebration, not merely a theatric, but rather something he lived from inside.
The Old Trafford Test was where the left-ender got to enjoy the true rewards of his hard-earned knocks, those valuable partnerships and his character. After a 20 in the first innings, the pair of Jadeja and Washington Sundar was assigned to shave off a massive chunk of the 311-run first innings deficit to save the series. A watchful Jadeja along with Sundar, played off the remainder of the day for a draw, keeping India's tail free from the slightest vulnerability. To top it all off, both batters got into Englishmen's skins, tired them out and got what they deserved so much, well-deserved centuries. A crack at series draw was still there. He also got a hard-earned four-fer as well, allowing him to make a real impact with the ball as well, ending with seven wickets in the series.
At The Oval, after a low score of nine in the first innings, Jadeja's lower-order half-century stand with Dhruv Jurel and another valuable pairing with Sundar helped India touch a 373-run lead, which proved to be a match-winning one.
-How Jadeja joined the leagues of Sunil Gavaskar, VVS Laxman and Garry Sobers?
-Jadeja continued his fine run in England, which becomes even more special because of his status as a middle-order all-rounder. His aggregate of 1,158 runs in 17 matches and 33 innings here at an average of 41.35, with two centuries and eight fifties, now puts him third among Indians, trailing only Sachin Tendulkar (1,575) and Rahul Dravid (1,376) when it comes to runs in England.
Remarkably, among touring cricketers in any country, only West Indies legend Garry Sobers, with 1,820 runs and 62 wickets, has more runs and wickets than Jadeja's 1,158 and 34 in England among batters playing at number six or below.
At Old Trafford, he became the first Indian to smash two centuries in England while batting at number six or below, speaking volumes about his adaptability to tough conditions as a middle-order batter. Currently, Jadeja is functioning as a shield protecting the lesser-experienced all-rounders and tail-end as a batter.
In the final Test, he breezed past legendary VVS Laxman (474 runs against West Indies back in 2002), for for most runs by an Indian batting at number six or lower in a Test series. With his hard-fought fifty, he also outclassed legendary Gavaskar for the most 50-plus scores for India in a series in England, with a total of six such scores.
Overall, Jadeja tied with West Indies' Gerry Alexander and Pakistan's Wasim Raja, who all boast six fifty-plus scores each in an away Test series while batting at number six or lower.
He also completed his 7,000 runs in international cricket, ending the tour with 7,207 runs in 363 matches, 306 innings at an average of 33.83, with five centuries and 40 fifties and a best score of 175*.
-All-rounder's unbelievable transformation into a specialist batter
Before his maiden Test ton in 2018, Jadeja was an all-rounder who could chip in some useful runs with the bat, scoring 1,176 runs in 35 Tests at an average of 29.40, with eight fifties in 52 innings and a best score of 90.
But ever since reaching three figures against West Indies at Rajkot in 2018, Jadeja has shape-shifted into a specialist batter who could give some of the best top-order batters in the world a run for their money. In 50 matches since 2018, Jadeja has scored 2,710 runs at a brilliant average of 43.01, with five centuries and 19 fifties, marking a remarkable turnaround in his batting fortunes. At this point, he could be played as a specialist batter and an extra bowler could be accommodated. His excellent skillset with the ball and rise as a batter has provided a much better balance for the team.
What's more special, he has outdone stars like Shubman Gill (41.35), Virat Kohli (40.02), Rohit Sharma (39.72), Cheteshwar Pujara (34.13) and Ajinkya Rahane (33.10) in terms of batting average during this extremely productive phase as a batter.
Jadeja's utility as a top-class batter does not diminish outside Asia either. In 26 Tests outside Asia since 2018, he has made 1,489 runs at an average of 43.79, with two centuries and 12 fifties in 43 innings. These half-centuries have been scattered across a variety of surfaces in the West Indies, Australia and England.
How much more Jadeja the batter can offer to India in coming years?