Ahmedabad Test: Decoding Ravindra Jadeja's all-round brilliance vs West Indies
What's the story
India's vice-captain Ravindra Jadeja was the star of the show in the first Test against the West Indies at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. His unbeaten century and a four-wicket haul helped India secure an emphatic innings and 140-run victory. The win came on Day 3 after West Indies were bowled out for just 146 runs in 45.1 overs in their second innings. Here are his stats.
Match highlights
Jadeja took four wickets in the third innings.
Jadeja was the standout bowler in WI's second innings, taking four wickets for 54 runs from 13 overs. His all-round performance nearly got him a rare 'ton and five-for' in a Test match. He had achieved this feat twice before. The left-arm spinner trapped three of WI's top-five batters - John Campbell, Brandon King, and Shai Hope. Johann Layne was his other victim. Notably, Jadeja had bowled three wicket-less overs in WI's first innings.
Knock
An unbeaten hundred with the bat
Responding to WI's first innings score of 162/10, Jadeja came in at 218/4 and forged a strong 206-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Dhruv Jurel. While Jurel scored a fluent 125, Jadeja's aggressive batting ensured India maintained their lead. His unbeaten knock of 104 was a perfect blend of defense and aggression, particularly against spinners. Jadeja smashed six fours and five sixes during his 176-ball stay and returned unbeaten.
Stats
15th four-fer in Tests
This was Jadeja's 15th four-fer in Tests, as per ESPNcricinfo, as he also boasts as many five-wicket hauls. Playing his 86th Test, Jadeja has now raced to 334 wickets at an average of 25.07. Versus WI, he has tallied 27 wickets from eight Tests at an excellent average of 20.2. The left-arm spinner, who is yet to take a fifer against the Caribbean team, has 242 wickets in home Tests at 20.65.
Batting impact
Jadeja inches closer to 4,000 Test runs
With the bat, Jadeja has scored 3,990 runs at an average of 38.73. This includes six centuries and 27 fifties. The 36-year-old is now just 10 runs away from becoming the fourth cricketer ever to score 4,000 runs and take over 300 wickets in Test cricket. Meanwhile, this was Jadeja's 2nd hundred across eight Tests against WI (50s: 2). He now owns 399 runs against them at 66.50.