Star India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Tuesday credited head coach Gautam Gambhir for moving him up to the No. 6 spot in the batting order, saying the shift has allowed him to think “more like a proper batter” and has brought out the best in his game.
India swept the two-Test rubber against the West Indies with a seven-wicket victory in the second game on Tuesday in New Delhi, and Jadeja was named player of the series for his all-around effort.
In the first game in Ahmedabad, the 36-year-old knocked 104 runs while taking eight wickets.
“I think we know what brand of cricket we’ve been playing over the last five, six months. So, that’s a good sign as a team, that we continue to do it over a long period of time,” Jadeja said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“As Gauti bhai (Gambhir) said, I am at number six now. So I am thinking more as a proper batsman, and that works for me. In the past, for many years, I’ve been batting at number eight, number nine, so my mindset was a little different from what I have now,” he added.
According to Jadeja, he doesn’t give records much thought, but he always makes sure to play well with the bat and the ball to justify his place in the squad.
“…we’ve been doing wonderful work as a team, in terms of batting and bowling. I am just trying to spend more time in the middle whenever I get a chance to bat. To be honest, I don’t think too much about records.
“I just focus on contributing with both bat and ball to help my team win. I always look forward to do that. I feel if I don’t perform with bat and ball, then it doesn’t reflect my value as a player,” he said.
Kuldeep Yadav, who took eight wickets during the match and was named player of the match, stated that bowling for extended periods of time was difficult on an unresponsive pitch.
“This was a totally different wicket. Bowling a lot of overs was the challenge here, I enjoyed bowling here. There wasn’t any drift here. The wicket was too dry. Bowling lot of overs and getting the breakthrough is something I enjoy a lot,” he said.
