Sanjay Manjrekar had called him "bits and pieces" cricketer during the tournament.
India's Ravindra Jadeja has shown amazing improvement as an all-rounder and it got him a place in the limited-overs side after being out for a while. At one time it felt like Jadeja would find it hard to come back and retain his place in the white-ball cricket with the rise of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.
But the all-rounder proved he is an all-format player and not just a regular feature in Test cricket. In the 2019 World Cup semi-final match, Jadeja probably played his finest knock in ODI cricket, although he ended up on the losing side. But the innings did fill him with confidence and the celebration after reaching half-century in the match is still talked about.
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During the 2019 World Cup, Jadeja was called a "bits and pieces" player by former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar. He came in handy with the bat when it mattered the most and Jadeja didn't miss out on replying to those who doubted him with a sword celebration.
Talking about the celebration in an interaction with The Indian Express, Jadeja said it happened in the heat of the moment and people know who he was targetting the celebration at.
"We can’t not mention the famous 2019 semi-final celebration towards Sanjay Manjrekar after the fifty! (Manjrekar had previously termed him a “bits and pieces” cricketer). Did you plan it? Did you know where the commentary box was?" the questioned said.
Jadeja replied, "Tab toh Bhatta garam tha, na! (The grill was hot, then!) I was searching for the commentary box. Then I thought, it must be somewhere there, only. And those who understand would know who I was targeting the celebration at! (laughs)."
The 32-year-old had picked up a wicket and he was also involved in the run-out of Ross Taylor in the 2019 semi-final match against New Zealand.
(With The Indian Express Inputs)