Indian captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma received plaudits for chipping in with vital knocks 85 and 63 against West Indies in the ODI series decider at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. However, Ravindra Jadeja’s under-rated knock was overlooked in the match. When all top-order batsmen were dismissed and with India still needing a handful of runs to get past the finishing line.

Ravindra Jadeja held his nerves in a pressure situation and scored an unbeaten 31-ball-39 with the help of 4 fours. Rightly so, he helped India seal the big deal. This sums up the essential Ravindra Jadeja for you! When India were quite comfortable during their run-chase at 188/2, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Kedar Jadhav were dismissed for single-digit scores. It was when Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat alongside Virat Kohli.

The duo stitched together a 58-run partnership for the sixth wicket before Virat Kohli was chopped on the line off Keemo Paul on 85. With no set batsmen at the crease, Ravindra Jadeja got some assistance from Shardul Thakur who eased the pressure off his shoulders by smacking a quick-fire 6-ball-17 with two fours and a six. Ravindran Jadeja, on the other hand, ensured not to throw away wicket in crunch situation as India tracked down the target with 8 balls to spare.

Sourav Ganguly lauds Ravindra Jadeja’s batting

While the cricket fraternity hardly praised Ravindra Jadeja, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was quick to notice his contribution as he took to his official Twitter handle to praise Jadeja for playing a sublime knock under pressure. “Another win @bcci …congratulations..good performances with the bat in a pressure game..jadeja s improvement with the bat so important,” Sourav Ganguly tweeted.

Another win @bcci …congratulations..good performances with the bat in a pressure game..jadeja s improvement with the bat so important …

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) December 22, 2019

 

Former India batting great Sachin Tendulkar also congratulated India on their victory over West Indies. “Congratulations to #TeamIndia on winning the ODI Series 🏆 . It was a commendable performance from the whole team. Keep it up boys.#INDvsWI,” Sachin wrote.

Congratulations to #TeamIndia on winning the ODI Series 🏆 . It was a commendable performance from the whole team. Keep it up boys.#INDvsWI pic.twitter.com/iXxOZsPZkK

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 22, 2019

 

India ended this year on a good note barring the 30 nervous minutes of gameplay against New Zealand that knocked the Men in Blue out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. After the painful defeat, there was no looking back since then. India have been on a sensational winning spree against the opposition teams. They registered their 10th bilateral series win over West Indies- the most by any opponent.

India’s next home assignment is against Sri Lanka as both teams will lock horns for the T20I and ODI series. The first T20I is scheduled to be played in Guwahati on January 5, the second one will be played in Indore on January 7 and the last one will be played in Pune on January 10. As per the reports, the team for the T20I series is expected to be picked on December 26.