India’s biggest gain from Mohali was the evolution of Ravindra Jadeja as a Test batsman

India lost the toss and were asked to bowl first on what looked like a different Mohali wicket in the third Test with dry patches evident on the surface. As it panned out, England were restricted to a score below 300. While Mohammed Shami took three wickets, Umesh Yadav, Jayant Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two apiece.

India then came out to bat with a new opening pair of Murali Vijay and Parthiv Patel. Though India had a decent start, they lost their way in the early parts of the last session as the hosts lost three wickets and added just eight runs to the total. Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, two of India’s most consistent batsmen in the recent past, were now in the middle and just as they looked like settling things, Kohli threw his wicket away, bringing Ravindra Jadeja to the middle.

India needed someone who could absorb pressure, bat sensibly and help India get past England to negate the disadvantage of batting in the fourth innings. Ravindra Jadeja started with hitting the right notes as he looked at getting his eye in and then consolidate.

A patient and watchful Jadeja

Unlike earlier, Ravindra Jadeja was in no rush and was ready to wait for his runs. A patient approach meant England were tiring and struggling to break through. While Ashwin was playing his shots, Jadeja was watchful. But rather than retreating into his shell, Jadeja played his shots when the ball asked to be hit. India ended the day’s play at 271/6 with Jadeja unbeaten on 31.

As the new morning arrived, India’s hopes rested on Ravichandran Ashwin and, to an extent, on Jayant Yadav, thanks to his recent promise with the bat. But as the day progressed, it was Jadeja who launched a counter attack and India were in the lead in no time.

While Ashwin too played some glorious shots, he was out soon as Jadeja neared his third 50 in Test cricket. He passed the landmark and achieved another one, the highest number of deliveries he had faced in Test cricket. Both these statistics were staggering and hard to believe for a batsman who has recorded three triple hundreds in domestic cricket.

Great record in domestic cricket

No matter how easy the surface or the opposition bowlers may be, scoring a triple hundred is no mean feat and doing it thrice is something incredible. So while Jadeja had this record in his favour, it was hard to believe his negligible impact in Test cricket with the bat.

One reason could be because of the fact that Jadeja had majorly batted in the lower order for India where he did not have much time understandably and decided to play his shots. This very innings was, for that reason, special and hopefully the start of something much more substantial.

Jadeja, after orders from the dressing room, decided to cut loose and went after Chris Woakes and raced from 73 to 89 in the space of an over. Working towards the team’s benefit, the selfless Ravindra Jadeja went for one shot too many, despite being on 90, and was caught at long on.

While Ashwin’s contribution with the bat, Jayant Yadav’s temperament and Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav’s confident fast bowling were some of the biggest positives for India in recent times, Ravindra Jadeja finally playing a proper Test knock will rank very highly for India.

In 22 Tests and 35 innings, Jadeja had managed a meagre tally of 682 runs at a lowly average of 23.51. He had just two fifties to his kitty with a previous highest score of 68 which also came against England back in 2014 at Lord’s.

His bowling stats provide a different picture. Jadeja in 22 Tests has bowled in 41 innings, picking up 91 wickets at an average of 24.45 and a strike rate of a little over 65.

Jadeja has undoubtedly been a huge asset with the ball for the team and though he had given account of his all-round abilities in the shorter format, he was far from an established all-rounder in the longer format. He found it hard to pace his innings well lower down the order, considering he batted higher up in the domestic circuit. But with this innings, brims a new hope, the hope that Ravindra Jadeja the batsman will rise in Test cricket.