India’s performance in the ongoing World Cup has been clinical so far. The Men in Blue are on a seven-match unbeaten streak with wins over Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka.
In fact, the Rohit Sharma-led side has already qualified for the semi-finals with two league fixtures to spare.
Veteran batters like Rohit and Virat Kohli have stood up for the team with 400+ runs while senior pacers like Jasprit Bumrah (15 in seven games) and Mohammad Shami (14 in three games) have shared 29 wickets between them.
However, there have been a few underrated performers as well, including spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. The southpaw has scored 81 runs in three innings and claimed nine scalps in 55.3 overs with an economy rate of 3.78.
On the eve of India’s match against South Africa, head coach Rahul Dravid addressed a press conference, where he highlighted Jadeja’s situational impact.
"Because of how good our seamers have been and how fantastic it has been to watch them upfront, the performances of people like Jaddu (Jadeja) and Kuldeep (Yadav) have probably gone slightly unnoticed," said Dravid in the pre-match presser.
Jadeja’s 39 not out took India over the line in a tricky chase against New Zealand. He also made a vital contribution of 35 runs versus Sri Lanka to propel India’s total to 357. With the ball, the left-arm spinner produced a fantastic spell (3/28) against Australia at Chepauk.
"Sometimes even having to bowl with a slightly wetter ball, because the ball has been slightly wet. Just the kind of control that he's given us through the middle, the way the control he's given Rohit has been sensational," said Dravid.
"And just the areas he's bowled as well, I think every metric point tells us that he's up there with anyone in this tournament in terms of just the areas he's been able to hit, the speeds he's been able to bowl at. And there's a lot of good conversations around the group in our bowlers' meetings with him," he added.
Dravid feels that Jadeja is now in a phase where he knows exactly what he wants from himself.
"Just to see him in that kind of relaxed space and very clear about what he wants to do and what he wants to achieve. And just having that confidence to do that consistently over and over again has been fantastic," Dravid said.
"When you're batting in the top three, you know that every single game you're going to get an opportunity to play. Sometimes at six and seven, you're not really sure when you're going to get a chance. Or even sometimes you won't even get a game. Or you won't even get a hit like they haven't for the first two or three games, the way we batted.
"He's (Jadeja) just come in and played critical knocks. Even the last one, he was able to really give us that little bit of a flip, a nice little 30 there. And so that's really good. And then his fielding is incredible, to have someone like him at point and taking some of the catches that he has. So really great all-around package for us, and someone who's really had a fantastic tournament. A little bit, maybe, gone under the radar a bit," the coach further stated.
(With PTI Inputs)
