Saba Karim has praised Ravindra Jadeja’s spell on Day 1 of the third Test between India and New Zealand in Mumbai. He shared that the left-arm spinner claimed his first two wickets with virtually unplayable deliveries as well. However, Jadeja registered figures of 5/65 in 22 overs as India restricted New Zealand to 235 in their first innings on Friday, November 1. The hosts ended the day at 86/4, trailing New Zealand by 149 runs as well.
During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Saba Karim said, “It was extremely necessary for Ravindra Jadeja to pick up wickets in the first innings. The fantastic track record India created in home series, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had a massive contribution behind that. In the last Test match, we saw that both of them didn’t have such a big contribution initially and that is why there was a lot of pressure on the Indian bowlers. So this was a very important spell for Jadeja. Once he gets his rhythm on such wickets, he creates a lot of difficulties for the batters, which he did today. I felt the first two wickets he got were unplayable deliveries.”
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“Will Young, set batter, if the ball is turning from there if you are playing for the line, the batter can’t do anything in the end. Second wicket also, Tom Blundell, when a batter is coming first up to bat, if you are getting turn with that speed, the batter can’t do much. So both of them were special deliveries,” he again shared.
In the same discussion, Aakash Chopra also appreciated Ravindra Jadeja for his stunning spell where he maintained accurate line and length.
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“He is relentless. We say that if you play for long, the bowler gets tired and then he makes mistakes. However, Ravindra Jadeja started from the 23rd over and kept bowling till the end and you can count his bad balls on your fingers. There wasn’t even a single bad ball in terms of length. He might have drifted a little more on the legs in terms of line but the consistency with that accuracy makes him this bowler, or else you don’t take close to 325 Test wickets. When you pick up first-day wickets as a spinner, they give you a lot of satisfaction,” Aakash Chopra stated.
