Underbowled Ravindra Jadeja Makes It Count With His 'Sixer'

He may have bowled the least number of overs among all the regular Indian bowlers but Ravindra Jadeja turned out to be the most effective one against Australia in the second Test in Bengaluru. The left-arm orthodox spinner took just 21.4 overs, which also included a maiden, to pick up six wickets for 63 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday. This was the seventh time the 28-year-old picked up five wickets in a Test match and the figures also turned out to be his second best figures in Test cricket.

Jadeja's best is 7/48 which he earned against England in Chennai in December 2016.

This is also the best bowling figures by an Indian in this series where Australian spinners Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon have dominated.

While the World's No.1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin bowled as many as 49 overs in Australia's first innings in Bengaluru, more than twice of what Jadeja bowled, he could only manage two wickets.

Innings break! Australia all out for 276, lead India (189) by 87 runs #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/ea8Cvs6B5V

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 6, 2017

Pacers Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, with 27 and 24 respectively, also bowled more overs than Jadeja. For some reason India captain Virat Kohli did not hand the southpaw as many overs as he would have liked perhaps.

Catch up on the morning highlights so far as Jadeja finished with six wickets: https://t.co/gPfEO35vdC #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/gIue9CylIb

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 6, 2017

However, the Saurashtra cricketer made it count with whatever he was made available with. This was his second five-wicket haul against Australia.

His scalps included opener Matt Renshaw, skipper Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood.

While Jadeja picked up his first three wickets in 17 overs on Sunday, he only needed 26 more deliveries on Monday to take his next three.

Australia scored 276 to take an 87-run lead over India's first innings total of 189. The hosts trail the four-match Test series 0-1, having suffered a humiliating 333-run loss in the first game at Pune.