The Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has termed his maiden international century as a “special moment”. He played an unbeaten knock of 100 in 132 balls on the second day of the first Test against Windies at his home stadium in Rajkot, becoming the third Indian centurion in the innings after debutant Prithvi Shaw & skipper Virat Kohli. Having played 218 international matches (38 Tests, 140 ODIs and 40 T20Is) over the period of 9 years, Jadeja, was unsurprisingly thrilled to get his first hundred at this level.
During an interview on Star Sports, describing the same, Jaddu gushed, “Obviously, after 9 years of international cricket I am scoring a hundred, so it is a special moment. Whenever I reached 70-80 in the past I thought about getting a hundred but kept on throwing my wicket away. I have made big hundreds in the domestic circuit, so I thought I can get hundreds at the international level too. Today I told myself that I need to reach the mark. I was really happy; whenever you get your first Test hundred it gives you a lot of joy.”
Jadeja is the only Indian cricketer to score 3 triple hundreds in domestic cricket. However, on the Day 2 of the Test match, he didn’t just contribute with the bat on day two, making an impact with the ball as well as in the field in the final session of play when India reduced Windies to 94/6. He picked up the wicket of Sunil Ambris on his very first delivery after being introduced into the attack.
ALSO READ: Ravindra Jadeja scores his maiden international century
The southpaw was also involved in an entertaining run-out, which wouldn’t really have been funny for Kohli and Co. had Jadeja would have missed that opportunity. The incident happened in the 12th over of the Windies innings when Shimron Hetmyer whipped one of R Ashwin’s off-breaks towards the mid-wicket region and went for a run. Amidst all the chaos, Jadeja decided not to throw the ball, but Hetmyer saw an opportunity and started running towards the non-strikers’end and then Jadeja finally had to go for the direct hit, but from a very close distance.
Talking about the run-out, the local boy said, “Both batsmen were at the same end, so I thought I could easily hit the stumps. I was just walking at the stumps and suddenly saw the batsman (Hetmyer) running. That was funny,” explained Jadeja. When asked what if he would have missed the stumps?, he replied, “I can’t imagine that (laughs).”
The Saurashtra all-rounder was also part of the Indian squad that played five Tests in England. He got to play in the final Test and straightaway made an impact by scoring an impressive unbeaten 86 and also scalped seven wickets in the match. Although India lost, the performance was a confidence booster for Jadeja.
WATCH – Ravindra Jadeja Precarious Drama Creates Tension For Virat Kohli
He explained, “In England, (James) Anderson and (Stuart) Broad were swinging the ball and they were bowling on good areas. I had to score runs. I spoke to myself and spurred myself on to keep going on and on, and I feel accomplished about my batting in England.”
After impressing in England, Jadeja also made a comeback in the ODI squad as well after a span of 442 days after Hardik Pandya (back injury) was ruled out of the 2018 Asia Cup during the group-stage encounter against Pakistan. He took four wickets in the match and ended the tournament with seven scalps at 22.28.
Recalling that game, he said, “I was playing ODI cricket in the Asia Cup after 15 months, and I needed to make a mark,” said Jadeja. “I was away from the ODI cricket for a long time. I got the chance to play against Bangladesh and luckily, was able to get wickets. In ODIs, sometimes you bowl well and you don’t get wickets. It was crucial; I got the opportunity and I had to prove myself, to myself and not to others. I got my ODI call-up, I got four wickets in the game, and also played a couple of crucial knocks there. I have been enjoying my cricket since then.”
