Crafty Jadeja leads India’s spin sway over England
The left-arm spinner’s brilliant 3/35 stood out on a pitch where every other Indian bowler went for more than five runs an over in the 2nd ODI
Cuttack: These are interesting times when India are ready to field only two frontline fast bowlers but not exhaust either’s quota of overs. Hardik Pandya is the third seamer but he is coming on as early as the sixth over. And as if choosing between Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja isn’t headache enough, welcome Varun Chakravarthy into this mix. Enterprising is the bowling flexibility as well, with Chakravarthy coming on as early as the ninth over, which meant by the first Powerplay, England had faced four overs of spin.
England still finished with 304, but this was the lowest ODI total at the Barabati Stadium since 2011. After reaching 200/3 in the 35th over, it still felt like a subpar finish for England. This slowdown can be attributed to two factors: England’s inability to force the ball when pace was taken off it, and the range of Jadeja’s bowling in the middle overs. Finishing with 3/35 on a pitch where every other bowler went upwards of five runs per over, Jadeja again showed why he remains crucial to India’s bowling superiority on subcontinent pitches.
Jadeja’s unrelenting accuracy is legendary by now, so are the deliveries that go with the arm, or turn away just enough to sow doubts in the minds of batters. Making all these variations even more difficult to counter is Jadeja’s ability to not give batters any time to recover from setbacks. England felt that and more as Jadeja had also orchestrated the two most significant dismissals for England — Ben Duckett and Joe Root.
Duckett’s wicket in particular, came at a time when he looked completely unbeatable. But Jadeja took the ball, bowled straight, wide, full and then at a flatter trajectory before baiting Duckett with a wider ball. Duckett couldn’t resist a mighty swipe at it, but so wide was the angle Jadeja had created that Duckett dragged it to Hardik Pandya at long-on. The next dismissal was strange considering that rarely has Jadeja dismissed anyone playing a drive. Root ticked that box in what turned out to be one of the tamest dismissals in the former England captain’s career. It was a slow, loopy, full length delivery that had no place but in the stands. Root too cleared his front leg and went after it, but the ball never got past Virat Kohli in the deep.
The timing of both dismissals is pertinent to the game tilting India’s way. Duckett was so set that it seemed that England were on course to piling on 150 in the first 20 overs. It was shaping up to be a significant improvement since England have often fluffed their lines despite rollicking starts. Consolidation is Root’s forte and England were on that path of recovery after losing their openers. Between overs 10 and 40, England had added 155 runs but lost four wickets, including that of Jos Buttler and Harry Brook. Onus, thus, was on Root to take England to the finishing line. Jadeja snapping that run meant England were left floundering in the most crucial phase of their innings.
This isn’t a Test pitch where the wear and tear automatically brings Jadeja into the equation. But so experienced is he in this form of the game that Jadeja has no problem being just accurate and relying on subtle change of pace. India weren’t exactly on point with their bowling at Cuttack. Against pace, England scored 181 in 23.5 overs, 121 against spin in 26 overs. Chakravarthy dismissed Phil Salt but he wasn’t bowling tight lines, neither was Axar Patel. That Jadeja spelt the difference amid all this must be comforting for India.
