Jadeja clicks all-round, settles No.7 debate

At the end of the 40th over, the Indian dressing room looked tense. The powerplay hadn't gone according to plan. The team's big hitter Suresh Raina was out trying to step up the run rate and India could manage just 21 from the five overs with just three men guarding the fence. Indian skipper MS Dhoni was at the crease but at that stage he had scored just 16 runs from 30 balls. At 177/5, India were desperate for a sustained assault in the final 10 overs.

As has been the norm in the last few India games, the team wanted Dhoni to do the rescue act. He wasn't just expected to last till the very end but also connect the big shots. His partner Ravindra Jadeja had more pressure on him. At No.7 Jadeja's largely average show with the bat has undermined the utility of his left-arm spin.

The question was being asked if the team would be better off playing a specialist batsmen, with Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara are on the bench. However, with new rules allowing one fielder less (4) on the boundary in the non-powerplay overs, the risk of part-timers being milked for runs is greater and hence Jadeja is playing the role of a spinner and a lower order hitter. It is in his batting duties that Jadeja hasn't played to his potential, until Tuesday.

There has been the odd-cameo lower down the order but none of his knocks recently have changed the course of an innings. At Rajkot he was out after facing nine balls for just seven runs. His last innings of note was an unbeaten 24 against Sri Lanka in the CB Series in February last year, after which it has been a series of uninspiring shows. On Tuesday, Jadeja played the kind of innings that would end the debate regarding his place in the side, at least temporarily.

... contd.

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