“Never looked like..” – Ravindra Jadeja’s batting praised, tactics questioned against England at Lord’s

Despite India’s loss to England at Lord’s by just 22 runs, there still are a few positives for the visitors. For starters, Ravindra Jadeja has emerged as a batter who can dictate terms against the bowling attack. And then, the way the tail-enders showed a lot of resistance, just shows that they can be trusted, going further in the series.

Ravindra Jadeja Shows Real Grit

Speaking on JioHotstar, Sanjay Manjrekar felt, that the real star of the show on the final day was Jasprit Bumrah, who showed a lot of grit, and hung around enough with Jadeja, to take India close. “Ravindra Jadeja was batting well and defending resolutely, but it never looked like he was taking the kind of risks needed to help India win. He was playing a waiting game and hoping against hope,” he bemoaned.

But Jasprit Bumrah Stole the Show

“The real star in that partnership, though, was Jasprit Bumrah. He stayed out there for one hour and 40 minutes against high-quality fast bowling, facing bouncers, and it was remarkable to see how his net sessions with the bat finally paid off. The mental toughness we see in his bowling came through in his batting too, and that was truly special,” Manjrekar said.

Manjrekar went on to add that Jadeja is finally trusting his defence a lot more, and can bat for long hours. “It’s heartening to see how much Jadeja trusts his defence these days. He plays long innings now, patient and with time on his side. The 70 runs he scored in the first innings were not a quick-fire 70 — he batted for four hours. And on this pitch, scoring 50 felt like batting for 50 hours.”