Ravindra Jadeja hit his career-best 175 not out in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali and went on to lead India to an innings and 222 runs victory, taking 9 wickets in the match with the ball. He was named the Player of the Match for his performance as well.
However, former batsman Gautam Gambhir believes that this was not the best knock by the 33-year-old all-rounder and mentioned that he values the half-centuries Jadeja scored in foreign conditions more.
Jadeja's innings in Mohali, according to Gambhir, is the culmination of his improved batting performances around the world.
“I feel the innings Ravindra Jadeja played in Australia or the knocks he has played outside India, he will get more confidence from that. Stats can be very misleading,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
“There was a time after the century where he was just milking - Dhananjaya de Silva, (Charith) Asalanka and (Lasith) Embuldeniya were bowling but if you talk about Australia or England, the 40 or 50-run contributions there are probably much more important than this innings,” he said.
In India's consecutive Test series wins in Australia, as well as the incomplete Test series in England last year, in which India led 2-1 with one match to play, Jadeja played a key role with bat, ball, and in the field.
"These 175 runs are the by-product of how Ravindra Jadeja has batted in overseas conditions. You only see the end result but the lead up to these 175 runs, there has been a lot of effort put in that, he scored runs in very difficult circumstances and conditions and that is why he got a chance at No. 6 or No. 7.
“If he had probably not scored runs in those conditions, the team management might have had the temptation to play someone else, probably Ashwin at No. 7. When you come after scoring runs in such difficult conditions, you get opportunities to improve your stats or your Test record,” said Gambhir.
