Due to a variety of circumstances this IPL season, Ravindra Jadeja, who plays for the Rajasthan Royals, has not always bowled his allotted number of overs. Despite this, the seasoned all-rounder remains unfazed, stating that he “leaves his ego in the hotel room before coming to the ground.”
In their IPL match on Wednesday, Jadeja’s team easily defeated the Lucknow Super Giants by 40 runs thanks to an all-around performance.
On not completing his allotted number of overs in a few previous games, PTI quoted Jadeja telling JioHotstar, “When I come to the ground, I leave my personal ego in the hotel room. I just think about contributing in whatever way the team wants from me. When it comes to batting, I wanted to take it deep in this game, because if I had gotten out in the 17th or 18th over playing a wrong shot, we wouldn’t have reached 159 and might have fallen 20-25 runs short.”
Jadeja contributed significantly to the win by scoring 43 off 29 balls and then taking one wicket for 29 runs in four overs.
“Chasing a smaller target might then have been easier for LSG. In T20 cricket, every surface, condition, and match situation is different, so you have to adapt accordingly. If, on a given day, the team feels that I have a negative match-up against a particular batter, I understand that. It might work, or it might not; that’s part of the game.”
After playing the waiting game with the LSG pacers making good use of the surface at the Ekana Stadium, Jadeja managed to keep his team’s total somewhat respectable.
Explaining his batting approach, Jadeja said, “When I was batting, it wasn’t that easy. LSG have quality fast bowlers, who were bowling with pace and in good areas. It was a red-soil surface, so there was bounce, and they were getting the ball to seam.
“We kept losing wickets and couldn’t build any partnerships. So, Donovan and I spoke about taking the innings deep. But in T20 cricket, you have to keep taking risks here and there to get to a good score. Unfortunately, he got out at the wrong time.
“I was just calculating the overs and was aware that Mayank Yadav might bowl the final over. I just wanted to use his pace, with a short leg-side boundary and mid-off and mid-on both up.
“Three of the deliveries were short, and he played a bluff by bowling one full, but luckily, I was able to score a boundary off that as well. We got those 20 runs, and as a team, you gain confidence when your bowlers have a few extra runs to play with.”
The Rajasthan Royals returned to winning ways, and this was LSG’s fourth straight loss.
On bowling slow on the Lucknow stadium pitch, Jadeja said, “When I was batting against Digvesh Rathi, a few of his deliveries were stopping in the wicket. So, I thought that if I bowled slow on this surface, I might get some purchase as well.”
“I didn’t want to give any pace to either Mitch Marsh or Pooran, because they are big hitters and are known to hit big. So, I bowled slower, but I also wanted to vary my pace, as I didn’t want to be predictable.”
Sanjay Bangar, a former batting coach and player for India, voiced his dissatisfaction with LSG captain Rishabh Pant’s batting strategy. Nandre Burger dismissed Pant for a duck.
Analysing Pant’s form, Bangar said, “It just didn’t feel right, the shots he attempted at the start of his innings. In his first three balls, he tried to swing across the line each time.”
“As a top-order batter with a lot of international runs and experience, this is something he would be very disappointed with. His body language said it all; he knew he got it wrong. If he applies more clarity to his approach early on, he will get far better returns.”
