‘Bharosa rakhiya purane khiladi hai’ – Fans celebrate as Ravindra Jadeja picks up a fifer in first Test against Australia
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has made a terrific comeback in international cricket. He missed a lot of cricket as he got injured during the Men’s Asia Cup last year. Since then, he missed the 20-20 World Cup 2022 and quite a few bilateral series. However, ahead of the first Test against Australia, the 2008 U19 World Cup winner played a red-ball game for Saurashtra.
In that game, the left-arm spinner picked a seven-wicket haul. However, the team lost the game. Meanwhile, the game gave Jadeja some game time and preparation as per the demands of a Test match. The Saurashtra was included in the playing XI of the ongoing Test. Ahead of the game, commentator Sanjay Manjrekar did a pitch report and said that it has something for the bowlers.
“The soil looks rough. There are cracks as well. Some grass there, which should hold the cracks intact. Manjrekar confirms there is a possible nightmare awaiting left-hand batters,” said Manjrekar.
Ravindra Jadeja picked a fifer without using the rough
Ahead of the game, there was talk about how the wicket was altered in a way that a rough was created outside the left-hander’s off-stump. However, as it turned out, the left-hander all-rounder didn’t need those. His first wicket came in the second session of the ongoing Day One in the form of Marnus Labuschagne. The ball turned from the off-stump and dragged him out as he was trying to play the cover drive.
However, he went on to miss the ball and was stumped by debutant KS Bharat. On the next ball, he trapped Matthew Renshaw for lbw on a ball that was pitched in the line of the stumps. A few overs after this, Jadeja cleaned up Steve Smith with a straight ball on the off-stump. In the third session, Ravindra trapped debutant Todd Murphy and comeback man, Peter Handscomb to complete his fifer in the red-ball cricket.
This is how Twitter reacted
https://twitter.com/FCofSirJadeja/status/1623610949927321605?s=20
Sir ravindra jadeja in today's match:#INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/sPVTpP71lN
— Prayag (@theprayagtiwari) February 9, 2023
5-wicket haul for Ravindra Jadeja on his comeback match – What a return of Sir Jadeja. He picked 5 wickets haul in First test match of this BGT. pic.twitter.com/78d0DlFKIO
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) February 9, 2023
https://twitter.com/pulkit5Dx/status/1623585356091371520?s=20
Ravindra Jadeja snapping at the heels of the Broad/Philander/Hazlewood celebrappeal podium with this mad effort pic.twitter.com/RKpEEPifRI
— Ethan (@ethanmeldrum_) February 9, 2023
Sir Jadeja takes 5-fer & is back with a bang.
Me & my homies : #INDvAUS #INDvsAUS #BorderGavaskarTrophy #RavindraJadeja pic.twitter.com/OFiyFTpDup— Nidhi Surana (@Nids_surana) February 9, 2023
https://twitter.com/AnkitSharma8878/status/1623587477062811648?s=20
What a great comeback by #RavindraJadeja claiming his 5th wicket including some big names like #MarnusLabuschagne, #StevenSmith and #PeterHandscomb.#INDvsAUS #IndianCricketTeam #AusvsInd #cricket #CricketTwitter #cricketnews #cricketupdate #cricketlovers pic.twitter.com/8FDfyPLsF8
— Satish Iyer (@SatzStar) February 9, 2023
https://twitter.com/utsav045/status/1623610489883463681?s=20
Ravindra Jadeja beats Steve Smith’s outside edge, and the Australian responds by giving the spinner a congratulatory thumbs up.
#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/zichSAzFih
— Nic Savage (@nic_savage1) February 9, 2023