Follow UsIndia had a splendid Day 2 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on July 3rd during the second Test of the five-match series against the hosts England. Not only did they put on 587, a gigantic total on the board, but they also picked up three crucial opposition wickets.
However, it was all made possible only after skipper Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja carried their overnight stand for the sixth wicket to 203, after India were left tottering at 211/5. To make sure that the team did not suffer another collapse, Jadeja adopted a method that led to him breaking a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
“Somewhere I felt that I should go and bat extra because the ball was still new. I felt if I could see the new ball off, it would become easy for the rest of the innings. Luckily I could bat till lunch,” Jadeja said at the end of Day 2 at Edgbaston.
With this, he clearly indicated that he travelled alone to the ground in order to practice more ahead of the day’s play, which is clearly a breach of BCCI’s SOP that states that in all situations, no player should travel to and from the stadium alone while on tour with the team. This SOP came into effect after India’s tour of Australia earlier this year.
Jadeja further revealed what he and opposition captain Ben Stokes talked about during his stay at the crease.
“He felt I was making rough for myself. The fast bowlers were doing it anyway. I don't need to do that. He was repeatedly telling the umpire that I was running on the wicket. I had no such intention. It might have happened once or twice by mistake, but I didn't mean to,” said the man who scored 89, missing out on a deserved century.
At the end of the day, India were quite ahead in the game with England struggling at 77/3, trailing by 510 runs.