Ever-reliable Jadeja quietly delivers again

CHENNAI: When Ravindra Jadeja started off from one end on Sunday morning at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the very first ball he bowled had enough signs of what to expect. It pitched on the rough outside off-stump, kicked up towards Najmul Hossain Shanto before lobbing in front of forward short-leg.

After three day’s of play, the Chepauk surface had started breaking down and Jadeja knew exactly what was needed. All he had to do was keep bowling into the rough – especially with two left-handers batting – and let the pitch do the rest. It’s muscle memory.

He has been doing it for a decade now – something that has helped him get close to 300 Test wickets in 73 matches.

On Sunday morning, he needed four wickets to get to the landmark and he almost had Shakib Al Hasan when he came back after the initial one over. Jadeja, as he had been doing, pitched it full on sixth stump in the rough, and to counter, Shakib stepped out of the crease. He swinged and missed, the ball bounced more than what Rishabh Pant had expected and he fumbled a stumping chance. Jadeja’s wait to 297th Test wicket continued.

He persisted with the similar lines and lengths and continued to torment Bangladesh batters and Litton Das eventually fell. With R Ashwin closing in on a fifer, Jadeja had to take the remaining three wickets to get to 300.

The first came in the form of Shanto, who had by now given up. Ashwin removed Taskin Ahmed next, and as a result Jadeja was left standing on 299 when he took the final wicket of Hasan Mahmud.