Sanjay Manjrekar heaps praise on Ravindra Jadeja for his fighting knock against Australia in WTC 2023 final

Former Indian batter, Sanjay Manjrekar applauded all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for his batting in the ongoing World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval, England. Manjrekar said that Jadeja has shown significant improvement in red-ball cricket in recent years. He believes that his batting in Tests has gone to a different level.

Jadeja came as saviour for India after they lost early wicket in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 469 runs. With the help of the centuries by Travis Head and Steve Smith, the Aussies dominated the Indian bowlers on Day 1 of the Test match. Head top scored with 163 runs off 174 balls, while Smith scored 121 runs off 268 balls.

Coming to bat on Day 2, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 71 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. After that, Jadeja took charge of the innings along with Ajinkya Rahane who was making his comeback in the Indian Test squad after January 2022. Both Jadeja and Rahane added 71 runs for the fifth wicket. While Rahane was playing steadily, Jadeja decided to take on the Australian bowlers and batted in different gears.

The 34-year-old got out after scoring 48 runs off 51 balls hitting seven fours and a maximum, and turned out to be the highest scorer for India in Day 2. India finished the day on 151 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Talking about Jadeja’s performance, Manjrekar said that he has given India some runs and proved his value in the squad. He also mentioned that Jadeja batted like a proper number 6 batter.

‘This is a guy who has got the confidence now…’ – Manjrekar

“He [Jadeja] was very upset when he got out. [It] shows the kind of expectations that he has from himself. His batting in Tests has gone to a different level. He has this confidence to keep leaving balls outside the off stump. This is a guy who has got the confidence now and it’s amazing how much it transforms a player. Consistency is the ultimate yardstick to judge a good performer and that is what you see with Jadeja,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.

“Yet another vital innings against the odds in a tough situation, like the last time he was in England in that one-off Test match with Rishabh Pant. He’s again given India the runs, maybe not enough, but he’s shown his value. He’s batting at No. 6 like a proper batter now,” he further added.