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Follow Us"It's been a great journey together. We wouldn't be the same without the other,” Ravichandran Ashwin was honest about his assessment of his pairing with Ravindra Jadeja.
In a day and age where jealousy and competition have overthrown several friendships, India have a perfect reincarnation of the legendary duo of Jai and Veeru. You could almost visualise Ashwin and Jadeja sitting on that famous three-wheeler bike and singing ‘Yeh Dosti,’ contributing to the rise of Indian cricket.
It might be against West Indies, a team that has played some brainless cricket in conditions that were tailor-made for these two. Even then, the Indian fans take their presence as a duo for granted. Ashwin and Jadeja will definitely go down in history as one of the best bowling pairs. And when they hunt as a pair, rest assured that the opponents often wonder about their existence.
Imagine this: You are 270 runs behind India’s first-innings total. You have spent nearly a day and a session struggling to break down the determined Yashasvi Jaiswal. And then a session where Ravindra Jadeja walked out to have fun out in the middle. Your body is aching, there isn’t a part of your body that has not given up.
And then, you are out there facing Ashwin, with at least five fielders breathing down close to your face. How does that feel? Claustrophobic? Even if you ignore their presence, there is constant chirping. It isn’t the only voice, this voice inside yourself is telling you that this monstrous pair - Ashwin and Jadeja - are going to eat you up alive.
Are you running short of breath? Are you panicking already? That’s exactly what the West Indies batting went through. You could blame the team, the batting unit, and the naivety, but then you have to understand that this two-faced monster - JadAsh - is staring at you coldly, and it means business.
If you have one bowling pair in the conversation of being all-time greats, that’s already a huge success. But when you have two, Anil Kumble-Harbhajan Singh and Jadeja-Ashwin, India couldn’t have asked for anything more.
In the yesteryear, Kumble was time and again beating the batters with his line, length and pace, and at the other end, there was Harbhajan, who kept the batters guessing with his variations. It was almost a terrifying prospect for any team to face them, forget bat well against them. With Jadeja and Ashwin, it isn’t any different.
Jadeja pushes you back with his pace, and Ashwin lures you into making those bad decisions. And when both of these happen in the span of a few minutes away from each other, you, as a batter, are always second-guessing yourself.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul, in the first innings, faced the consequences of Ashwin’s intelligence. In the second innings, Jadeja undoes him in the most contrasting fashion, with a delivery that beat his defence. It is all a consequence of his thoughts about getting out to Ashwin in the first innings and how he would tackle that challenge.
In the span of just 40 overs, Ashwin and Jadeja proved why they are as devastating as it could get as a bowling pair. Ashwin’s street-smartness, with the angles, was a major catalyst at one end, while Jadeja's at the other, depending on his line and length. It was almost like a perfect recipe for disaster for West Indies.
Between Ashwin and Jadeja, India picked up 17 wickets. And that’s perhaps the hallmark of this pair - they create havoc - in tandem, and the numbers suggest that. Whilst India has indeed had to compromise on one of them when they travel away, Jadeja’s numbers without Ashwin aren’t suggestive of a Test great.
Alongside Jadeja, Ashwin has 271 wickets in 48 games at an average of 21.7 and a strike rate of well under 50. But without the left-arm spinner, Ashwin averages 26, with a strike-rate of above 50. Jadeja, with Ashwin, has 224 wickets, averaging 20.7.
“Both have been doing it for a while, so they know exactly what is expected from them. Don't have to tell them much, just about going out and giving them freedom to express,” Rohit had to talk about the deadly duo.
It isn’t just that, as a bowling pair, Ashwin-Jadeja have picked up 495 wickets in 48 matches, picking up 10.3 wickets every match. Kumble-Harbhajan have picked up the most wickets for a bowling pair in Indian colours, with 501 wickets. For bowling pairs with a minimum of 350 wickets, Ashwin-Jadeja have the best wickets per match ratio.
“And when you have the kind of experience they have on these pitches, it is always a luxury. But you still have to pitch it... both Ashwin and Jadeja were magnificent, especially Ashwin,” he added.
In Jadeja and Ashwin, Indian cricket has its own version of Jai-Veeru.
Arre meri jeet teri jeet
Teri haar meri haar
Sunn aye mere yaar
