India promoted Ravindra Jadeja at No. 5.
Indian cricket team surprised many with their decision to send the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja to bat at no. 5 ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, but the move didn’t work for the tourists on day 1 of the ongoing fourth Test against England on Thursday (September 2) at The Oval.
Team India didn’t have a good start being put to bat on Thursday, as the tourists lost their top three batters with just 39 runs on the board and Jadeja's promotion to no.5 didn't garner the expected result as he was dismissed for just 10 followed by Rahane (14) and Rishabh Pant (9).
Except for Virat Kohli (50) and Shardul Thakur (57), none of the Indian batsmen could even reach the 20-run mark in the first innings, as the tourists were restricted by England for 191 in the ongoing fourth Test.
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Reacting to India’s move to promote Jadeja up to the order, legendary Indian batsman Virender Sehwag feels the tourists would have taken that decision to force the England bowlers to alter their line and length against a left-hander in the first inning on Thursday.
The former opener also recalled India’s tour of Australia in 2004 when Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t getting runs and then skipper Sourav Ganguly changed his batting position in one of the games in the series.
Sehwag said, “Maybe it was a step taken to force the England bowlers to alter their line and length against a left-hander. And if the reason is something else then it’s not a good sign for India. It could be just one of the matches when Jadeja was promoted up and sent in to bat ahead of Ajinkya Rahane.”
He further explained, “The conditions are favoring swing and troubling the right-handers, so send in Jadeja at No. 5; which we usually see in the shorter formats. The right-hand and left-hand combination often troubles a bowler, so maybe introduce that format in Tests as well.
Rahane hasn’t scored much in the last games but the same is the case with Kohli and Pujara. Why wasn’t their position altered? So, I think it could be a one-time affair.”
Recalling the Australia tour in 2004, Sehwag said: “I remember, Tendulkar wasn’t getting runs in the 2004 tour of Australia. So, Sourav Ganguly changed his position from No. 4 to 5 and he himself batted at No.4. It happens sometimes that when you are getting out regularly while batting at a similar position then such changes are made.”
He concluded, “Even when I wasn’t scoring as an opener, I was sent to bat in the middle order. When I found my rhythm back, I was back on top of the order. So that could be a possible reason for the change.”
India ended day one on a high removing the England openers and the dangerous Joe Root for 53 runs on the board.
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)