NEWS
Follow UsMS Dhoni and Virat Kohli heaped heavy praise on Ravindra Jadeja who was at his absolute best against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday (April 25). The ace all-rounder whacked 62* off 28 deliveries, out of which 36 came in the final over of the first innings. The left-hander slammed Harshal for five sixes and a four as Chennai Super Kings accumulated 37 runs from that over. He then also scalped three wickets and effected a run out as Chennai smashed Bangalore by 69 runs to end their four-match winning streak.
"Jaddu is somebody who can change the game on his own. In the last few years, we've seen a significant change in batting and it's worth it to give him that extra bit of time, extra deliveries. The bowlers have found it difficult to contain left-handers, and that helps as well. You can't really predict the quantum of victory. There's no control to how many runs or wickets. It was a good wicket but I felt the spinners had something up their sleeves and I felt that the extra few runs Jadeja made helped. 165 would have been par, and once you get 25 extra the opposition has to come a little harder," said CSK skipper Dhoni at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Jadeja gave Bangalore their first defeat of the season, but with one eye on this year's T20 World Cup, the India captain Kohli was not complaining. "Our start was decent enough. One guy completely beat us. Today Jadeja's skills was there for everyone to see. I am very happy to see him perform with the bat, ball and on the field. After two months, he will be back playing for India and it is always a pleasure to see your premier all-rounder do well with the bat. When he plays well and is confident, it lets out many opportunities," said Kohli.
Kohli threw his weight behind beleaguered pacer Harshal who felt the wrath of Jadeja's willow. "(Harshal) bowled well and we will continue to back him. We will continue to give him responsibility, he got both the set batsmen out and plucked all the momentum away. You have to look at it the right way. I feel this is a positive feedback for our side. A performance like this, it is good to get this out early on in the tournament," Kohli said.
Dhoni later also clarified that Chennai haven't done anything different from last year. "We were not doing anything drastically different from last year and I feel that's what is important whether you win or lose. You keep hearing me or Fleming saying the same thing that we focus on the process and not on the result. Your real test of character is when results don't go your way and that's where you have a chance to earn more respect.
"You are still following the path you keep talking about and I've always felt actions speak louder than words. When you are under pressure that's the time you follow whar you say over the period of time. I felt that's something that gave confidence to the players. Credit to the players for how they have performed. Everybody would have felt pressure after that first game because we are coming from a lean season. That's how it is and it's something we have faced in our careers."
Jadeja was named Player of the Match and said that he has never had a better day on a cricket field. "No, I don't think so (when asked if he had a better day). Enjoyed a lot, when you contribute for your team in a winning match, it means a lot. I have been working a lot on my fitness, skill and everything else, luckily, it paid off today. It's tough as an all-rounder, you'll have to do well in all departments - while training, I don't do all the three things (batting, bowling and fielding practice) on the same day. I work on my skills one day and my fitness on the next day - that's how I manage my workload," said Jadeja.
"I was looking to hit hard in the last over, Mahi bhai told me he (Harshal) will be bowling somewhere outside the off-stump and I was ready for that. Luckily I connected with everything and we managed to reach 191, that was a crucial over from our side. I knew I had to score some runs if I do get on strike. Today was not my day (on not getting a catch), but I did get one run-out (laughs), I'm happy with that."
