Team India captain Rohit Sharma showered immense praise on all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who once again displayed why he continues to be one of the most potent weapons for the Men in Blue. After playing a sizzling cameo with the bat on a challenging slow pitch, the 'Rockstar' rocked South Africa's batting line-up with a sensational five-wicket haul. While Virat Kohli hogged the limelight on November 5 (Sunday) at the Eden Gardens, skipper Rohit made sure that Jadeja's performance was duly appreciated.
The 'Hitman' called Jadeja a 'big match-winner' for the country in all three formats of the game and lauded his excellent effort with the bat and tremendous spell with the ball.
"Jadeja has been really good. Big matchwinner. He keeps doing the job, goes under the radar but today is a classic case of what he does - score late runs and take wickets. Not to get ahead of ourselves is something we are constantly talking about. When we turn up, we want to play to our potential," Rohit told host broadcaster after the match.
Jadeja scored 29 not out off 15 balls with the help of three fours and one six. The all-rounder took confidence from his batting and delivered a stifling spell later in the evening. Jadeja finished with excellent figures of 5/33 in nine overs and also bowled a maiden over.
Overall, it was another thunderous display by the Indian cricket team as they neutralised the Proteas' fire without even breaking a sweat. Rohit gave a perfect quick-fire start with the bat, scoring 40 runs off just 24 balls. Kohli remained unbeaten on 101 runs and Shreyas Iyer scored yet another half-century before getting dismissed on 77 runs off 87 balls. As a result, India posted a daunting total of 326/5 in 50 overs.
Indian bowlers bundled out South Africa for just 83 runs with Jadeja picking a five-fer and Mohammed Shami bagging two wickets. Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with two wickets as well while Mohammed Siraj accounted for one wicket.
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