Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar took U-turn as the well-known commentator has heaped praise on the India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for his superb batting performance against Australia in the ongoing Boxing Day Test being played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Manjrekar, who was involved in a controversy after calling Jadeja bits and pieces limited-overs cricketer during World Cup 2019, said he has always been a big admirer of Jadeja in Test cricket, saying the longest-format of the game is all-rounder's strong suit.
His words came after the 32-year-old played a patient knock with stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane under pressure on Day 2 of the ongoing second Border-Gavaskar Test against Australia at the MCG.
The left-hander came out to bat in a tough situation when Team India was still trailing by 22 runs, though the all-rounder went on to produce an impressive show the bat, as he has not only formed a fantastic partnership of 121 runs for the sixth wicket with Rahane but also notched up his 15 Test fifty (57 off 159 balls) to help the visitors to take over 100 runs lead in the second Test against Australia.
Following his brilliant outing as Test all-rounder, Manjrekar was particularly impressed with the patience shown on the crease by Jadeja during his innings as well as hailed Jadeja for his contribution with the bat while highlighting his improvement with the bat over the years.
Speaking on Sony Sports Network, Manjrekar said: “Things changed after 2015 with Ravindra Jadeja -- the batsman. It was also the time when Ashwin was batting before him, Ashwin had four Test hundreds and Jadeja had nothing.
Jadeja was competing with Ashwin as the spinner in the side. Ashwin’s batting dropped Jadeja’s batting sort of skyrocketed. This guy always had a great first-class record and finally, when he got his number, he felt ‘Wow, let me make most of it'.”
He further pointed out that the all-rounder showed great application as he wasn't fazed by the accuracy of the Australian pace battery and was willing to dig deep and wear down the bowlers at the MCG.
When it comes to average, Jadeja’s batting average in Test cricket has only improved over the years as he has averaged 21.80 in 2015 while averaged 62.85 in 2019 and the currently averaging 65.00.
Manjrekar signed off by saying, “The early part he was playing as Test all-rounder of a sort, his bowling was fine but his batting for a couple of years had become a bit of harakiri. Something changed in the last 4 years.
He is getting behind the ball, leaving balls, even today against a quality bowling attack, he did not throw his wicket to avoid the fast bowlers before the second new ball was taken.”
(With ANI/PTI Inputs)
