Ravindra Jadeja made a brilliant comeback into the Indian Test side in the first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Nagpur. The left-arm spin allrounder took seven wickets in the match and scored a half-century also. The performance earned him 'Player of the match' Trophy. As world no. 2 India take on world No. 1 Australia in the second Test starting on Friday, Jadeja's role will be crucial as the Rohit Sharma-led side chases a berth in the World Test Championship final.
Jadeja recently opened up on being trolled on social media and gave some strong comments. "On days when I haven't done well, they start trolling, calling me names. They say things without knowing the kind of hard work I have done to reach this stage. Small, small things … there are so many struggles and sacrifices that I don't even remember now,” Jadeja told Indian Express.
"Computer ke saamne fukre log baithte rehte hain, meme banate rehte hain aur kuchh bhi likhte rehte hain (Those idlers sitting in front of a computer have nothing to do, they sit and make memes and write anything that comes to their mind). See honestly, those things don't matter to me. If they did, I wouldn't have reached this far … They have no idea what all I had to go through to reach here. They say he is playing IPL and earning so much money … Believe me, in IPL, they don't pick you by seeing your face.”
Meanwhile, Jadeja's spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin jumped to the second spot in the ICC Men's Test Bowlers Rankings following his eight-wicket show against Australia in the opening Test in Nagpur. Jadeja, who made a successful comeback after almost five months due to a knee injury, has moved up to the 16th position, courtesy his player-of-the-match winning effort in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series-opener.
The spin duo haunted Australia in the first Test between by sharing 15 wickets between them as India won by an innings 132 runs inside three days.
Ashwin ensured India wrapped up a stunning victory before tea on the third day, as the veteran off-spinner took 5/37 in the second innings to go with 3/42 earlier in the match.
The 36-year-old is 21 rating points behind Australia captain Pat Cummins and is contention to return to the No.1 ranking for the first time since 2017.