NEWS
Follow UsRavindra Jadeja was adjudged player of the match for his spell of 3 for 15 in the match against Scotland on Friday (November 5). His wickets included Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross and Michael Leask as India bundled Scotland out for just 85.
India have now won two games in a row and will have to beat Namibia in their final group stage game and hope Afghanistan topple New Zealand if the men in blue are to have any chance of progressing to the semi-final.
India came under scrutiny when they lost the first two games of the tournament - against Pakistan and New Zealand - but Jadeja reckons the team should not be judged by how they fare in a game or two given that they have performed well over a span of two years or so.
“If you look at it that way, then in last two to three years, we have played some really good cricket, whether it’s in India or overseas. So it’s not fair to judge us on basis of one or two games,” Jadeja said in the post-match press conference.
“In T20 cricket, any team can have an odd bad game or two but you can’t think too much about those defeats. You have to move on and think about the opportunities ahead. We will take the positives from those two games and look to play well in future games,” he added.
Virat Kohli won a toss for the first time in the tournament against Scotland. Jadeja went on to explain how important that is in the tournament. “In the first innings of these games, the ball is stopping and gripping a bit off the surface. If you bat in the second innings, dew makes the track flat and batters then find it very easy,” Jadeja said.
“When you are batting first on these tracks, we are not getting the starts we are used to and when the start is a poor one, it becomes difficult to come back in middle overs. For that, winning toss becomes important and as then you can opt to bat second,” he added.
India played as many as three spinners against Scotland. Other than Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Varun Chakravarthy too were included in the XI. However, Jadeja does not see that affecting his role in the team.
“My role was the same. I looked to take wickets in middle overs and bowl like how I bowl usually. No change in plans just because we were playing Scotland. It was a simple basic plan. Look to bowl in good areas and let the wicket do the rest,” the India all-rounder said.
India will take on Namibia in the final game of the group stage on Monday (November 8) at the Dubai International Stadium.