Mohali: India captain Rohit Sharma said Ravindra Jadeja is upping his game every time after star all-rounder helped India to gain a 1-0 lead against Sri Lanka in the Test series here in Mohali.
An all-round performance from Ravindra Jadeja (175 runs and 9 wickets) and R Ashwin (61 runs and 6 wickets) helped India register a resounding win in the first Test by an innings and 222 runs.
“He’s one of the top. Look at the performances: to get 175 not out and then take nine wickets in the game; he’s just upping his game every time you see him. In the past when we played in India, his contribution with the bat lower down the order and taking those crucial wickets, he just seems to be adding a lot more to his game every time he plays.”
“He’s very hungry… as you can see that hunger drives athletes to move forward and I see that in Jadeja clearly. He’s quite hungry for success, quite hungry to get runs and do well for the team,” said Rohit Sharma in the virtual post-match press conference on Sunday.
The victory gives India 12 crucial points in the ICC World Test Championship keeping them at No.5 in the table while Sri Lanka slip to No.3 with a loss. The hosts have also taken a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Sharma also lauded Ravichandran Ashwin after veteran spinner went past Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 Test wickets to become India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the game.
“It’s a big thing in his cricketing career to achieve that feat. When you grow up wanting to play Test cricket, you don’t dream about all these things. To surpass that, it’s a big achievement on his behalf.”
“I have been watching Ashwin for a long time now and every time I watch him, he seems to get better and better. Ashwin is one of those kinds of players where confidence is always there in his abilities. Whatever he wants to achieve for himself and then for the team as well, play a crucial innings and got us a big partnership there with Jadeja. Every time I see him, he seems to get better and better,” he added.
This match will be remembered for a lot of reasons – primarily being Virat Kohli’s 100th Test but while Kohli could get only 45 runs to his name, it was Jadeja and Ashwin, who shone with both bat and ball to hand India a commanding victory inside three days. They dominated on all three days, in all departments as Sri Lanka failed to get a session to themselves.
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