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Ravindra Jadeja is arguably the best fielder in the Indian side. However, for India’s first three matches of World Cup 2023, the in-house gold medal for ‘best fielder award’ has eluded Jadeja. In the clash against Bangladesh at MCA Stadium, Pune, Jadeja put in a terrific dive to his right to take a blinder and dismiss wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim. Right after getting back on his feet, Jadeja signalled to the dressing room where fielding coach T Dilip was to give him the gold medal in the dressing room. Dilip applauded an ecstatic Jadeja as well from the dugout.
The catch was taken in the 43rd of the innings. A partnership was building between Rahim and Mahmudullah. Jasprit Bumrah was brought back into the attack. On the third delivery, Bumrah bowled a short delivery. Mushfiqur slashed hard and played the cut shot. The ball went to backward point where Jadeja dived to his right and took the catch with both hands. In the commentary box, Dinesh Karthik was left stunned as he described the catch as "unbelievable".
The first in-house gold medal was given to Virat Kohli for his catch against Australia. Against Afghanistan, Shardul Thakur won the award followed by wicketkeeper KL Rahul getting it for an amazing grab in the Pakistan clash.
Earlier, Jadeja was impressive with the ball as well. In his second over, he trapped stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto in front of the wickets. Shanto got out lbw as the faster delivery trapped him in front of the stumps. Shanto departed for a single-digit score.
He was economical in the middle overs and was rewarded for it. In the 28th over, he got the prized wicket of opener Litton Das. He advanced down the track and tried to hit Jadeja for a six but miscued the shot. He got caught at long-off by Shubman Gill well inside the boundary. Once again, it was the faster delivery that did the trick. Das scored 66 runs from 82 balls.
From his full quota of 10 overs, the left-arm spinner conceded 38 runs and picked up a couple of wickets.
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