‘Don Bradman would look from the above’: Ravi Shastri on Ravindra Jadeja’s insane numbers at Rajkot in India vs England

Ravindra Jadeja has insane numbers at his home venue in Rajkot. Be it Ranji Trophy or Test cricket, he just collects runs as if it were his birthright.

So good is Jadeja’s record at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, renamed from Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium before the India vs England third Test that Ravi Shastri felt it would even make Sir Don Bradman proud.

When Jadeja was nearing his century in the final session of Day 1 of the third Test, the batting numbers of the all-rounders were flashed on the screen. That is when Shastri could not resist drawing the legendary Bradman’s reference.

“Look at that average. He (Ravindra Jadeja) could make even Don Bradman look from the above,” Shastri, a former India head coach, said on commentary.

Ravindra Jadeja’s insane numbers at Rajkot

Before he walked out to bat with India in a precarious situation at 33/3 in the first hour of play on Thursday, Jadeja had an average of 135 in the 17 red-ball matches that he played at the venue. His 1501 runs came on the back of four centuries, one of them a career-best 331, and five half-centuries.

Rajkot is a dream for batters on most days but for Jadeja, it’s paradise. He was playing in his third Test match at this venue. In the previous three times he batted here, he was unbeaten twice with one of them being a century against the West Indies. What were the odds of Jadeja pulling off something similar?

With India at 33/3 with Mark Wood and James Anderson breathing fire with the ball and two debutants to follow, India not only needed a partnership but a big one. And Jadeja delivered again.

With captain Rohit Sharma at the other end, Jadeja first made sure India went to lunch with no further losses and then the first wicketless session of the series came. Rohit looked a bit iffy in the beginning, trying to find the right balance between attack and caution; he was dropped at slip by Joe Root when he was on 27 but not Jadeja. The left-hander was calm, assured, and balanced. He just knew what to do when Wood banged it in short or Anderson went around the wicket.

Not to mention, he was sublime against the spinners. Rohit, who hit 131, and Jadeja put together 204 runs.

The marathon stand is India’s first century partnership and the best so far by either team in the five-match series, level at 1-1.

Rohit fell in the final session off Wood but Sarfaraz Khan stepped into the spotlight as he took on the bowlers with regular boundaries including a straight six off Tom Hartley.

Sarfaraz put on 77 runs with Jadeja, who was promoted in the batting ahead of Sarfaraz, but was run out after a mix-up between the two batsmen and Wood hit the stumps directly at the bowler’s end.

Jadeja, who missed the second match with a hamstring injury, raised his ton with a single and celebrated by swinging the bat in his trademark sword dance.

It was Jadeja’s fourth Test century and second in Rajkot. He currently averages 245 in Test cricket at this venue and has been dismissed only once in his four innings. He would resume batting on Day 2 at 110 with Kuldeep Yadav for company. With keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel and all-rounder Ravichandran still to come, what are the odds of Jadeja making it even bigger?