Ravi Shastri was put in a tough spot by Matthew Hayden after Dinesh Karthik said that talking about 3D cricketers in India is a sensitive topic, as the trio was doing commentary during the second day of the first Test between India and Australia being played in Nagpur.
Indian resumed their innings on day 2 on 77/1 and after a brief partnership, lost R Ashwin for 23 runs and then Todd Murphy, who had taken the first 2 wickets, removed Cheteshwar Pujara (7) and Virat Kohli (12) in quick succession as well.
Then Rohit Sharma completed his 9th Test century and first as Indian captain in the format, but after the tea break, he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 120 runs.
But then Ravindra Jadeja took over and since then scored his 18th Test half-century as well and received huge praise from Matthew Hayden on commentary during his knock. Earlier, Jadeja had taken 5/47 as Australia was bundled for 177 runs.
Focusing on Jadeja’s excellent all-round record, Hayden called him a “three-dimensional cricketer” before being warned by Dinesh Karthik on air that it was a “sensitive topic”, which left former India coach Ravi Shastri in a fix.
Speaking on the all-rounder, Hayden was all praise for him calling him a “three-dimensional cricketer” during his commentary. Karthik immediately responded to the statement saying, “Three-dimensional cricketers are a very sensitive topic in this part of the world, I must say.”
This alluded to the debate around the inclusion of all-rounder Vijay Shankar in India’s 2019 World Cup squad over experienced batter Ambati Rayudu. Then BCCI selector MSK Prasad hailed Shankar as a ‘3D cricketer’, which caused some stir after Rayudu mocked the term in a now-deleted tweet.
Hayden poked fun at Shastri saying, “Come on now, don't keep the suspense any longer,” before Karthik replied, “May be Ravi bhai can enlighten you on that,” as he burst into laughter.
“I don't think I have ever witnessed Ravi Shastri backing down from a challenge. What is it big fella?” Hayden continued.
Shastri, who was India’s head coach during the 2019 World Cup, diverted the topic to Rohit nearing his milestone century. However, both Karthik and Hayden trying to get a comment out of him on the matter.
Shastri replied by saying: “Nice when a player was picked some time ago and one of the selectors mentioned that he was a three-dimensional cricketer. I'm still trying to figure out what that means.”
Hayden then clarified that he called Jadeja a 3D cricketer as he can bowl well, bat wonderfully and is a gun fielder.
(Star Sports inputs)
