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The veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja delivered a ‘Player of the match’ performance against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). First, he rescued Rajasthan Royals (RR) from a collapse and taking them to 159/6 with a 29-ball 43. Then, he bowled an economical spell and dismissed Nicholas Pooran. As Royals beat LSG by 40 runs, Jadeja was asked about why he has not been allowed to finish his full quota of overs until April 22.
"When I come to the ground, I leave my personal ego in the hotel room,” Jadeja replied. “I just think about contributing in whatever way the team wants from me. When it comes to batting, I wanted to take it deep in this game, because if I had gotten out in the 17th or 18th over playing a wrong shot, we wouldn’t have reached 159 and might have fallen 20–25 runs short. Chasing a smaller target might then have been easier for LSG.”
“In T20 cricket, every surface, condition, and match situation is different, so you have to adapt accordingly. If, on a given day, the team feels that I have a negative match-up against a particular batter, I understand that. It might work, or it might not; that’s part of the game."
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Jadeja had bowled maximum of three overs in an innings before the match against LSG. RR were a bowler short as they used Shubham Dubey as impact player which may have contributed to Jadeja bowling his quota of four overs.
Facing Rathi made Jadeja bowl slower to LSG
Jadeja defied match-ups and kept Pooran and Mitchell Marsh quiet in the middle overs. He revealed that he realised bowling slow will work on the Lucknow surface when he was facing Digvesh Rathi.
"When I was batting against Digvesh Rathi, a few of his deliveries were stopping in the wicket. So, I thought that if I bowled slow on this surface, I might get some purchase as well. I didn’t want to give any pace to either Mitch Marsh or Pooran, because they are big hitters and are known to hit big. So, I bowled slower, but I also wanted to vary my pace, as I didn’t want to be predictable. If they hit a six or two, all the pressure built earlier gets released, reducing the margin of runs required," said the 37-year-old.
Jadeja also dedicated the ‘Player of the match’ award to his wife Rivaba who is also Gujarat’s Education Minister. His all-round show helped RR rise to the second spot on the points table. They will go up against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 25.
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