Confident Ravindra Jadeja Continues to Display his Forgotten Magic

The last two years has seen Ravindra Jadeja has seen him suffer injuries to keep miss more matches he’d like. Whenever Jadeja got his chance though he managed to make an impact. From the Southampton Test in 2022 where he made a century to the Asia Cup game against Pakistan later in the year where his 35 took India close in a tense chase, Ravindra Jadeja constantly made an impact.

On both sides of such performances though, Jadeja had significant gaps due to injury. His last two years had him come in, perform with both bat and ball, and miss out due to injury. Over the period retirement from the longest format was a consideration. Axar Patel as his replacement across formats was another strong consideration. With Axar Patel finding success with the bat in recent months, and with Ravindra Jadeja taking really long to get back from injury, questions came up on his ability to be the same player he once was.

However, after a Ranji game and Two Test Matches, questions on Ravindra Jadeja’s ability, fitness and position have been erased. With a 5 for in the first innings in Nagpur and ten wickets in the match at Delhi, Ravindra Jadeja continues to remind everyone that he remains a king on Indian pitches, and remains India’s best all-rounder.

With the bat too, Ravindra Jadeja was a part of some vital partnerships in this series. As popularly mentioned, his batting levels have grown a lot in the last four years, as Ravindra Jadeja now stands as one of the most reliable batters in the Indian side. In the second Test too, with a mini-collapse seeing India face the prospect of conceding a huge lead, Ravindra Jadeja played a part in arresting the slide.

His 26 is not a score that will attract a lot of attention, but his brief partnership with Virat Kohli helped cut the lead as Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin helped take India to one short of Australia’s score. The job though was not done yet. With India conceding a one run lead, Australia were still with the upper hand. By day three, the Delhi track was taking considerable spin, and the track was to only get worse, making it nearly impossible to bat on by the Final innings.

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India’s spin twins though dug India out of a hole and helped bring up a win that seemed very unlikely. Ravichandran Ashwin started the slide and Ravindra Jadeja carried it forward. Ravindra Jadeja quickly produced a beauty to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne and managed to run through the Australian side shortly after. The proceedings fell away rather quickly as India only needed Ashwin and Jadeja through the session.

Comebacks are not easy and are often met with a lot of expectations. Ravindra Jadeja though, with high confidence in his ability has come roaring back. After struggling to keep himself in the loop thanks to injuries, Ravindra Jadeja has smashed the door down as he returns flying with two man of the match awards. His ability to constantly attack the stumps with pace remains as effective as ever with Ravindra Jadeja continuing to display a masterclass on relentlessly attacking the stumps.

He knows the Australians will use the sweep on him, and he has confidently said that the sweep may not be the best option against him on a track turning wildly. With 17 wickets in the first two Tests, and a half-century, Ravindra Jadeja is dominating the Australian line-up and is now a serious contender for the man of the series award, which could cap what has been a fairytale comeback for one of the greatest all-rounders of the current era.