Indian opener KL Rahul heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the left-handed batter played a match-saving innings on Day 4 of the third Test against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Jadeja, who had been added to India’s lineup for the first time in the ongoing series, scored 77 off 123 balls. He first joined hands with KL Rahul to add 67 runs for the sixth wicket and then stitched other lower-order partnerships before eventually getting dismissed with India just 33 runs short of preventing follow on.
“He was brilliant today and he has been brilliant for us batting down the order for many, many years. That’s what we expect of Jadeja,” Rahul said at the press conference.
“Really happy that, firstly, I could stitch a partnership with him when he came in. It was really needed at that stage. Then he went on to score 70-80 runs with the tail, every run today was crucial for us to get past that follow-on firstly, and to see how many runs we could put on the board, and he made that possible,” he added.
Rahul added that while Jadeja’s acumen as a bowler is highlighted accurately, the left-handed batter often flies under the radar.
“Often it’s only Jadeja’s bowling that’s spoken about but I think he’s been a great performer even with the bat. He has a solid technique and I enjoy batting with him. I enjoy watching him train. He seems to have his game plan really simple and sorted,” he said.
After Jadeja’s wicket, India was in trouble again but Akash Deep (27) and Jasprit Bumrah (10) combined to put up a late stand that helped India avoid follow-on.
Commending the duo’s batting, Rahul said, “Very good to see when the lower order chips in and gets the runs. That’s something we discuss a lot in our meetings. The bowlers work really hard on their batting as well.”
“When it mattered today, I was happy that they could play some exciting shots. It was a great contest at the end, the last half-an-hour they batted. Not just the runs they got, but the heart they showed to keep away the bouncers.
There’s a lot of pace and bounce in the wicket, so to get behind the ball, defend really well, leave the ball, hit some nice shots, is really good. It will give them some confidence and give us as a group a lot of confidence,” he added.
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