Star spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who played a vital role in India’s impressive six wicket win over Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 match, feels that the experienced Steve Smith’s wicket, was the turning point of the game in Chennai.
Bowling first, pacer Jasprit Bumrah gave India an early breakthrough by removing Mitchell Marsh but David Warner and Steve Smith led Australia’s fightback before Jadeja turned the match with three crucial wickets.
The 34-year old Jadeja ran through the Australia middle-order as the visitors slumped from 110/2 to 119/5 in the space of 16 balls. He bowled Steve Smith with an unplayable delivery that almost turned square to beat the defence, then quickly followed it up with the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey in the next over.
“I think that was the turning moment. When you get a wicket like Steve Smith, from there onwards it was not easy to just come in and rotate the strike for the new batter. I would say that wicket was the turning point. From there onwards, they were 110/3 and 199 all out,” Jadeja said in the post-match press conference.
The left-arm spinner also highlighted the various variations which he used on the Chennai pitch, which was assisting spinners.
“This was my plan, that I should bowl at the stumps and luckily the ball to Smith turned a little more. My plan was simple. I was thinking that this is a Test match bowling wicket, I shouldn’t experiment too much because everything was happening on the wicket. So I was trying to bowl it stump to stump,” he said.
Jadeja also revealed that MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai was not as helpful to the spinners as he initially expected.
“When I started the first over, the ball was stopping after falling a little slow. I thought it was the afternoon, it was hot and the wicket was dry. I thought a stump-line would be better. From here some balls would turn, some would go straight, so it won’t be easy for the batsman to line up,” he said.
Led by Jadeja, India bowled Australia out for 199 and then Virat Kohli and KL Rahul combined for a 165-run stand for the fourth wicket for the team’s win.
The Rohit Sharma led India will now take on Afghanistan next in their World Cup match in Delhi on Wednesday before the marquee clash against Pakistan in Ahmedabad on October 14.
