In the couple of centuries that Test cricket is being played, a few of them will always be remembered for multiple reasons. For close games, for big victories, for personal milestones, for farewell games, and for many other reasons. And today, we have another such game which will go down in history for one of the best personal efforts we’ve seen in recent times.
We’re talking about the 1st Test between India and Sri Lanka which had a really quick ending. India batted first and scored nearly 600 runs which saw Sri Lanka following on and being bowled out twice, the game ending on Day 3 itself. But the match belongs only to one person and that’s spin bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Ravindra Jadeja’s Test Match
This game was an important one for several reasons. One of them was the fact that former captain Virat Kohli was celebrating his 100th Test match appearance, while Ravi Ashwin went past Kapil Dev to get 435 Test wickets, taking him to number 9 on the list of most Test wickets in the history of the game. Why we’re calling it the Ravindra Jadeja Test match then, you wonder?!
Well for starters, he batted India to a fabulous 1st innings total, getting to his second Test century and a personal highest score at this level of 175*. He played a selfless knock and asked hi captain to declare without him wanting to get to a personal milestone of a double century. And in case that wasn’t enough, he picked a fifer in the Sri Lankan 1st innings, ending with figures of 5/41.
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When he got to this fifer, he joined a list of only five other people in the history of the game who scored 150+ and picked 5 wickets in a single innings of a Test match. Vinoo Mankad (184 & 5/196) in 1952, Denis Atkinson (219 & 5/56) in 1955, Polly Umrigar (172* & 5/107) in 1962, Gary Sobers (174 & 5/41) in 1966, and Mushtaq Mohammad (201 & 5/49) in 1973 were the only others to achieve this milestone.
And it shows how good the achievement was when you see the fact that this hadn’t been achieved in 39 years before today. Sri Lanka was asked to bat again and once again, Sir Ravindra Jadeja was in action as he picked up more wickets and etched his name further down in history. He got 4/46 and narrowly missed becoming the first to 150+ runs and 10 wickets in a single Test match!
Jadeja has always been a very talented cricketer but he hasn’t always played to full potential at the highest level. When you see his first class record, it includes a record three triple centuries, while this was only his second in Test cricket. He’s matured as a cricketer in the last 18-24 months across all departments including batting, bowling and fielding, and it’s good to see him achieve his full potential!
For more updates on the 2022 Sri Lanka tour of India and on other cricket news from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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