The veteran Indian all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja joined an elite list of cricketers when he completed the Test double of 2000 runs and 200 wickets during a gritty knock of 56 runs on the rain-marred 3rd day of the opening Test of the 5-match series against England in Nottingham. Jadeja is the 5th Indian cricketer and 21st player overall to complete the double of 2000 runs and take 200 wickets in Test cricket.
Kapil Dev, Ravichandran Ashwin, Anil Kumble, and Harbhajan Singh are the other Indian cricketers, who have achieved the field earlier. Jadeja got to the milestone with a boundary and in the process helping India take the lead in the first innings. Jadeja completed the 2000 runs and 200 wicket combo in just 53 Test matches which rank below England’s Ian Botham (42 Tests), India’s Kapil (50 Tests), Pakistan’s Imran Khan (50 Tests), and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (51 Tests).
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Ravindra Jadeja worked his way on the crease to extend the lead, hitting eight boundaries and a six in his half-century, which he celebrated with trademark bat-twirling.
Ravindra Jadeja goes past 2000 Test runs with a glorious boundary 👏👏#TeamIndia | @imjadeja pic.twitter.com/HA7sizpJUq
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 6, 2021
Meanwhile, India rode half-centuries by KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to claim a handy first-innings lead of 95 runs 95-run first-innings lead against England on a rain-curtailed day three of the opening test on Friday.
India was 125/4 overnight with KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the middle. Both batsmen looked to score runs and Pant perished in that process. Ravindra Jadeja came out to share a crucial stand with Rahul. They shared 60 runs for the sixth wicket and gave India a handy lead. Rahul got out to James Anderson, giving him his 620th Test wicket, after making fluent 84 runs with the bat.
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Jadeja then shifted gears to score his personal fifty. He was farming the strike well and scored boundaries on every given opportunity. His vigil came to an end after scoring 56 runs in just 86 balls, where he hit six fours and one towering six.
India’s tail, for a change, wag and wagged a to score crucial runs. Mohammed Shami scored 13 runs but it was Jasprit Bumrah who stole the show. Bumrah got out after scoring stroke-filled 28 runs in 34 balls, where he hit three fours and one six. The first match of the five-test also marks the beginning of a new World Test Championship cycle
