Ravindra Jadeja continues to play a pivotal role in India’s success. With his maiden five-wicket haul in one-day internationals, the left-arm spinner tilted the game in his team’s favour after MS Dhoni asked West Indies to bat at the Kennington Oval.
Introduced into the attack in the 18th over, Jadeja ended the flourishing partnership between Johnson Charles and Darren Bravo and continued to pick wickets at crucial moments from thereafter. While speaking to the media about his performance later, he said, “I think the wicket was a bit slow, so if you bowl slow, you will get turn. But I was just trying to bowl slow in the air, and, yes, I was getting turn. I just kept a straight line.”
Ranking his Man of the Match performance against the West Indies that took India into the semi-finals as one of his best in ODIs, he said, “I think this is one of my best bowling performances, I can say that, because I got four-wicket hauls three times in my career. This is the first time I got five wickets.”
Asked about the pressure while bowling to the West Indies line-up which comprises of the likes of big hitters like Kieron Pollard, Jadeja said, “No, I was not thinking about the batsmen particularly; I was just thinking of the way I' am going to bowl and what is my situation, what is my role in the team, and what the wicket was doing. So I was just trying to bowl, as I said, just in right areas.”
While talking about India’s success so far in the tournament, he said, “I think everybody is doing their job. The batsmen are scoring runs, bowlers are taking wickets, and fielders are doing a very good job on the field. So I think we have a very good balanced side. Particularly we are getting very good start by the openers, both - Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, so that is a good sign for us in the upcoming crucial games.”
Speaking about his preparation before the matches he explained, “Before the match I just watched my videos.”
Speaking about MS Dhoni and the support he has received from his captain, Jadeja said, “I can say that he has a very good cricketing brain. So he can read a person’s cricket, I believe, very well. That's why he has backed me all the time in batting and bowling. I was just trying to give my best whenever I get the opportunity. Whenever I get a chance to bat, whenever I get a chance to bowl, just trying my best, that's it.”
