Ravindra Jadeja, an all-rounder for India, scored his fourth century in a test match and two consecutive hundreds at his home ground, the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, against England on Thursday.
Jadeja made his return after missing the second test match at Visakhapatnam due to a hamstring injury and immediately formed an effective partnership with Rohit Sharma – India’s captain – of 204 runs for the fourth wicket, helping India fight back after England reduced India to 33 for three.
As Rohit reached his eleventh hundred, Jadeja took on captaincy duties alongside rookie Sarfraz Khan as his partner. With England seamers James Anderson and Mark Wood bowling hard at them, Jadeja completed his half century off just 97 deliveries; Rohit achieved his century. Upon Rohit being dismissed for 131 Jadeja took on captaincy with rookie Sarfraz Khan serving as his partner.
Jadeja managed to reach his century off 198 deliveries, scoring seven fours and two sixes along the way – becoming only the third Indian player after Kapil Dev and R Ashwin to accomplish 250 wickets and 3,000 runs in Test cricket.
Notably, Jadeja’s hundred was his first since scoring 104 against England at Birmingham in July 2022. BeforeBefore that inning in Rajkot (in 2018), Jadeja first made history against the West Indies by scoring his maiden century.
Before India easily defeated West Indies with a 272-run victory and four-innings win, Jadeja had scored 104 runs off 194 deliveries before contributing 32 unassailable runs to India’s victory over England via their test match debut at this venue in 2016. Since then, Jadeja has shown a marked preference for playing First-Class cricket matches at his home ground of Saurashtra; scoring over 1500 runs at this location and an average over 100.
In 2012-2013 Ranji Trophy season for Saurashtra alone he scored 331 runs with his highest First-Class score ever being 331 not out during 2012-2013 Ranji Trophy season! For the test match, debutant India beat England and scored 32 unbeaten runs in the second innings to help lead them past England!
Jadeja achieved his highest Test match score of 175 against Sri Lanka at Mohali at the start of 2022. During that innings, he amassed over 7000 First-Class runs and is only one wicket away from reaching 500 wickets in First-Class cricket.
At the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium in Rajkot on the first day of their third test match between India and England, India scored 326 for five after winning toss in morning and opting to bat first. India dropped three wickets quickly during early overs before captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja rallied together with an extraordinary double century stand. They had previously found themselves 33 for three.
Sharma and Jadeja both scored centuries, while Sarfaraz Khan, making his debut, scored 62 runs quickly in a short amount of time. England grabbed three wickets during this match, thanks to Mark Wood.
Five matches have already taken place in this series, and both teams have won one match each.
Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja led India’s brave fightback following an initial nervous start on day one of the third test match in Rajkot, after they both suffered major blows during session one. Rohit’s double century stand helped save India at Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium – recently renamed after him! – while also scoring an unexpected double century stand. This victory came despite several blows taken in that session alone.
India’s skipper Rohit Sharma showed his superiority by scoring an eleventh century in a test match under challenging conditions, while Jadeja, newly promoted to fifth spot, proved vital in saving India from precarious situations – helping Rohit end a drought of 1579 days, or over four years!
Five years have passed since an Indian pair achieved a double-century stand at home, and this marks its debut. Before Rohit was dismissed by Mark Wood’s short ball from behind the stump for 204 runs scored during their partnership, much to the delight of their fans cheering him back onto the field for one final innings, 131.
Noteworthy is the fact that this marks the first double hundred by an Indian pair since October 2019 in a home match – Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma being the last pair to achieve this feat in Ranchi against South Africa at home, combining for 267 runs together against South Africa – this being their last time ever doing so!
