Ravindra Jadeja marked his return to India’s Test team by scoring an unbeaten 86 during the third day of the fifth Test against England at The Oval. Thanks to Jadeja’s gritty knock, India posted a decent first innings total of 292.
When India were tottering at 160/6, Jadeja along with debutant Hanuma Vihari stood tall against the English pace attack and made sure that India got closer to England's first innings score of 332.
After the tourists started the third day on 174/6, England were frustrated in their attempts to make a breakthrough. Jadeja and Vihari flourished in a 77-run stand until Moeen Ali struck, having the former caught behind pushing forward for 56.
Following the departure of Vihari, Jadeja batted exceptionally well with the tail-enders. He farmed the strike beautifully and forged a 32-run partnership for the tenth wicket with Jasprit Bumrah. Earlier, Jadeja had picked up 4 wickets in England’s first innings.
Twitter experts were mighty impressed with Jadeja’s awe-inspiring show with the willow on Test return. In fact, Jadeja’s all-round performance prompted a few to even question his omission from the playing XI for the first four Tests.
Here are some of the tweets:
Wonderful from Jadeja. And I hope Shami was watching what can happen if you hang in for a while
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 9, 2018
after the first innings of his comeback game, Jadeja has the most wickets and the second most runs of anyone in the Test match #ENGvIND
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) September 9, 2018
Love the way @imjadeja plays the game ... Somehow India have to find a way to play him all the time ... Great skills ... #ENGvIND
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 9, 2018
Ind’s last wkt frustrates Eng no end...mediocrity of English Captncy surfaces ever so blatantly..good job R Jadeja knocks Indn think tank w/plenty o guts & gusto..Oval Test could well produce more heroics..let’s wait w/abated breath..!!!
— Bishan Bedi (@BishanBedi) September 9, 2018
A good comeback game for @imjadeja here. Tight with the ball and bat. Also, impressed by how Hanuma Vihari applied himself at the crease. Well deserved 50. #ENGvIND
— R P Singh (@rpsingh) September 9, 2018
Four wickets in the first innings of an overseas Test for Jadeja...a measured half century to boot. Don’t be surprised if Jadeja plays ahead of Ashwin in the first Test vs Aus. #Impressive
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 9, 2018
How tragic Jadeja should be stranded so close to what would have been a fantastic century. Played with gr8 poise, cleverness and maturity, specially with tailenders 40 runs lead not insignificant, but India will take heart they got so close
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 9, 2018
Well done @imjadeja should have played earlier in the series things could have been different.. 4 wickets and a brilliant 50.. keep going pal
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 9, 2018