Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (5-65), who played a crucial role in India bowling out New Zealand for 235 in the first innings of the third Test on Friday, was highly appreciative of the Wankhede pitch. “I got good turn and bounce. The ball was skidding as well, once it pitched. Sometimes on turning tracks, you don’t get wickets; you are [just] beating batters regularly. Sometimes, the ball turns too much. What you need is slight turn where it takes the edge of the bat. Sometimes luck is important,” Jadeja explained.
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Off-spinner Washington Sundar claimed 4-81 as the hosts stood a good chance to have an upper hand at stumps. But they lost three wickets in the last 10 minutes to finish the day at 86-4. Among the three sent back was Yashasvi Jaiswal (30), who was bowled by left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel (2-33) while playing the reverse sweep with a couple of overs left in the day. When Jadeja was asked by mid-day at the press conference about the perils of playing the reverse sweep, he said: “I don’t play reverse sweeps [laughs]. He [Jaiswal] plays them, so you’ll have to ask him.”
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That said, Jadeja wants Shubman Gill (31 not out) and Rishabh Pant (unbeaten on one) as well as Sarfaraz Khan, R Ashwin, Sundar, Akash Deep and himself to contribute to the team’s total. When asked what was going through his mind in the dressing room during the collapse, Jadeja said with a laugh: “I didn’t get that much time [to think about it]. Everything happened in 10 minutes. But it happens. In a team game, you can’t blame anyone. Everyone makes small mistakes, but our remaining batters will have to have small partnerships. And we will have to do as much as we can in the first innings. Only then, will we be able to play [well] in the second innings. The upcoming batsmen will make small contributions and it will be good.” Jadeja, who claimed three wickets each in the Bangalore and Pune Tests, claimed his 14th fifer in Test cricket.
