Jadeja also ran Smith out to end Australia's innings at 338.
Former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha heaped praise on Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and also explained how the changed and improved action helped him getting crucial wickets in the ongoing third Test against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
On Day 1 of the Sydney Test, Jadeja had only bowled 3 overs with two maidens, but the Indian off-spinner was seen with the new and improved version of himself on Day 2 at the SCG, as he returned with impressive figures of 18-3-62-4 – his 3rd best figures in away Tests and helped India restrict Australia to 338 in their first innings.
Firstly, Jadeja took the very crucial wicket of Marnus Labuschagne who was very close to his first Test hundred of 2021, dismissing him at 91 and then another dangerous Aussie in Matthew Wade for just 13 in the 1st session before running out the centurion Steve Smith (131 off 226) in Sydney Test.
Then, the off-spinner dismissed Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon to complete his four-wicket haul in the ongoing Sydney Test.
Ojha pointed out that the all-rounder used his shoulder for generating that extra pace that helped him to get the better of Australian batsmen and those important wickets.
Ojha said on Sports Today: “He brilliant you know. If you see, yesterday he was kind of, I thought, he was trying a bit more. But today if you see, he must have realized, spoken to the bowling coach, maybe seen his videos, and check where the balls he had bowled the previous day were landing.
So I think he’s come back with a plan and that’s what he has done. He has bowled to his strength and his strength keeps things very tight. Bowl to the stump and not bowl any easy deliveries and that’s how he got his wickets.”
The former spinner further decoded Jadeja’s actions: “Yes, there was the bounce in Jadeja’s ball. But more than that it was, if you see previous deliveries he was bowling a little short and slow.
And if you see the pace that he generated off the wicket was more than the deliveries that he was hit for boundaries. So I think, he used a little bit of his wrist and his shoulders to generate that pace.”
He signed off by saying, “Maybe he wanted to do that, he wanted to get the better of the batsmen. That’s what I felt, there was a slight increase in his pace. That is because Jadeja has a lovely shoulder, the way he throws the ball, the way he has power in his fielding. So he used a little bit more of his shoulder. That’s what you do on a slow wicket to generate that extra pace.”
(With India Today Inputs)