India’s in-form all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja got a promotion up the order on Day 1 of Indore Test as he batted ahead of Shreyas Iyer. The idea behind sending Jadeja at no.5 was to counter the left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann who was making life tough for India in the first hour of day’s play. The Indian think tank’s plan backfired as Jadeja fell cheaply.
Nathan Lyon first trapped Jadeja in front of the wickets with an arm ball. Umpire Nitin Menon immediately raised the finger but Jadeja opted for review. The DRS went in India’s favour as the ultraedge showed a minor spike when the ball passed the bat.
On the next ball, Lyon dragged his length back a bit. The southpaw went on the back foot to play it towards covers but found short cover fielder Kuhnemann. Jadeja could not believe that he threw his wicket away after barely surviving off the last ball. Skipper Rohit Sharma was in disbelief as well to see Jadeja getting out in that fashion. His reaction has been making rounds on social media.
He scored just four runs from nine deliveries. With his wicket, India lost four wickets for 44 runs. On a minefield of a pitch, India lost half the side for just 45 runs. In the first hour, Kuhnemann took three wickets whereas Lyon struck twice.
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and opted to bat first at Holkar Cricket Stadium. Rohit announced two changes to the side that played in Delhi. Shubman Gill replaced an out-of-form KL Rahul whereas Umesh Yadav came in for Mohammed Shami.
“It is a pretty good dressing room and like you said the morale is high. The guys are confident about their skills which is a good thing moving forward. We have played a lot of cricket (here) but this one (surface) is slightly different. Looks little dry and you have to adapt your skills and be at it all the time. We aren't there yet (WTC final) and we have to come and win this game, we have to try and repeat the things we did in the first two Tests. It is important to stay present,” Rohit said after winning the toss.
