During the ongoing third Test between India and England at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja achieved a significant milestone, surpassing former captain Sourav Ganguly to become the 15th Indian cricketer to score 1000 Test runs against England.
Jadeja, commencing Day 2 at 110 runs, added a mere couple of runs to his tally before being caught and bowled by Joe Root. His composed innings of 112 runs off 225 balls included nine boundaries and two sixes.
The achievement places Jadeja among a distinguished list of Indian batsmen, who have excelled against England in Test cricket, including legends like Sachin Tendulkar (2,535 runs), Sunil Gavaskar (2,483 runs), Virat Kohli (1,991 runs), Rahul Dravid (1,950 runs), Gundappa Viswanath (1,880 runs), Cheteshwar Pujara (1,778 runs), Dilip Vengsarkar (1,589 runs), Kapil Dev (1,355 runs), Mohammed Azharuddin (1,278 runs), Vijay Manjrekar (1,181 runs), MS Dhoni (1,157 runs), Farokh Engineer (1,113 runs), Ravichandran Ashwin (1,048* runs) and Ravi Shastri (1,026 runs).
Entering the crease with India struggling at 33 for 3, Jadeja, alongside captain Rohit Sharma, engineered a crucial 201-run partnership to shift momentum in India’s favour. Following Rohit’s departure after a stellar 131, Jadeja continued to anchor the innings, forming another vital alliance with debutant Sarfaraz Khan.
However, a miscommunication between Jadeja and Sarfaraz led to the latter’s run-out on 62 runs, ending their promising partnership of 77 runs. Despite the setback, Jadeja remained resolute, ultimately reaching his fourth Test century.
Reflecting on the run-out incident, Jadeja took to Instagram to express remorse for his misjudgement, acknowledging his role in Sarfaraz’s dismissal. However, Sarfaraz, displaying maturity, brushed off the incident, accentuating Jadeja’s supportive guidance throughout their partnership.
