RAJKOT: Since making his debut against England at Nagpur in December 2012,
Ravindra Jadeja
has played 69 Tests. However, he would’ve played plenty more Tests and white-ball games for India but for the numerous injuries that he has suffered in the course of a fabulous career during which he has taken 280 wickets and scored 2893 runs.
Returning after a hamstring injury forced him to miss the second Test against England at Visakhapatnam, for the third Test of the series in his hometown Rajkot, Jadeja, now 35 and perhaps realising that he isn’t getting any younger, made it clear that he now wants to protect his body, no matter how.
Considering that hamstrings take time to heal, the ace allrounder’s early return to action is almost miraculous.
“I would like to give my 100% and save my body and keep away from diving when not required. That’s it. I don’t think about that too much because it has happened before. As the match progresses, the body will get used to the flow and you will forget that there was an injury. I will get into rhythm in one or two days,” Jadeja told the reporters.
Even though he asserted that he would protect his body on the field, there’s no guarantee that Jadeja won’t get injured yet again.
“I can get injured again tomorrow. I can work on my body more smartly and do it carefully and hope there will be no problem. But there is no guarantee,” he cautioned.
Thanks to his frequent injuries, Jadeja’s visits to the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy for rehabilitation have become routine. In fact, due to his rapid injury breakdowns in the past two years, the leftarm spinner has been sidelined on five occasions.
Since 2021, Jadeja has hurt his thumb, forearm, rib, knee and most recently, his hamstring. The frequency of his injuries have naturally left Jadeja frustrated.
“It is frustrating but the cricket has increased these days and that is at the back of the mind always. I can’t hide anywhere in the field, I am always in hotspots in any format and that may be the reason,” Jadeja explained.
Jadeja was pleased with the fact that his ‘spin twin’ for the past decade, off-spinner R Ashwin, was set to cross the 500 Test wickets landmark at Rajkot.
“He will definitely complete his 500 wickets on this ground. I am very excited because I have been playing with him for 12-13 years and to achieve this milestone is a really big thing. I thought he would complete it in the first Test but it’s okay, whatever is written in destiny...he will complete it in Rajkot,” Jadeja said.
In the absence of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan will make his long-awaited Test debut alongside wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel. Another middle-order batsman, Rajat Patidar, would be playing in only his second Test.
Jadeja backed all the rookies to do well, considering they had a rich experience of First-Class cricket.
English (US) ·