When the ICC Men’s World Cup began 48 years ago in 1975, Australia and the West Indies were the giants of ODI cricket. Indians were the minnows in the first edition of the tournament. Watching India play Australia in their first match of the tournament’s 13 edition at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, I realised how the tables have turned in international cricket as far as cricketing supremacy is concerned. The minnows of 1975 came out as an exceedingly superior team in 2023 against one of the giants of the first edition of the ODI World Cup. India outclassed Australia with ease with the help of a brilliant three-wicket spell by the left-arm spinner, Ravindra Jadeja.
Very few cricketers in the history of the game have scored a hundred and taken five wickets in an innings in a Test match. This small list includes some of the biggest names, such as Sir Garfield Sobers, Jacques Kallis, Wasim Akram, and Ian Botham. The fact that Jadeja belongs to this category tells us something about the greatness of this cricketer from Saurashtra. Since the start of ODI cricket in January 1971, only a handful of cricketers have made 1,000 runs and taken 100 wickets in this format. Here, too, Jadeja, with more than 2,000 runs and 200 wickets, shares space with cricketers like Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, and Ian Botham. These four cricketers are considered as the greatest all-rounders in the history of the game.
One of the greatest sights in cricket is a spinner fooling the batter in the air and having him stumped by the wicket-keeper. Everything about this mode of dismissal is delightful — the bait that forces the batter to leave the crease followed by the mid-air dupe that results in the batter missing the ball and the wicket-keeper doing the rest. Jadeja ranks 10th on the all-time list of spinners with the most stumping dismissals in international cricket. He shares this elite category with greats like Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, and Saqlain Mushtaq.
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Thanking the stars
Last Sunday, as I sat inside the MA Chidambaram stadium, I saw Jadeja bowl his quota of 10 overs for mere 28 runs, picking up three of the most crucial wickets in the Australian innings. His first victim was Steven Smith, one of the most accomplished batters in the history of Australian cricket. The ball delivered to Smith was unplayable. It pitched near the leg stump and turned magically to take Smith’s off stump bail. As the Australian shook his head acknowledging the skill, I instantly remembered Bishan Singh Bedi and looked up to the sky to thank the powers that be for giving India a rich legacy of left-arm spinners. Bedi would have been proud of the ball that Jadeja bowled to Smith. Jadeja’s next victim was the supremely skilled Marnus Labuschagne, who had little clue when the delivery took his bat’s edge to end in the wicket-keeper’s gloves.
Jadeja’s third Australian victim was wicket-keeper-batter Alex Carey, who was left flummoxed by the speed at which the ball struck his pad, and he could do nothing except watch the umpire raise his finger, dismissing him leg before wicket (LBW). This is the most unique aspect of Jadeja’s bowling. He bowls his deliveries with tremendous speed without compromising on accuracy. In the heat of Chennai, I sat waiting for him to bowl one bad ball. That ball never came.
I have come to realise that it’s impossible for a batter to either sweep or step out to Jadeja. This is because he has the deadly combination of speed and accuracy. In the post-match interview, Jadeja emphasised that on a helpful wicket, it’s important to keep things simple without attempting too many variations. It is the same philosophy that the great Bishan Singh Bedi followed during his playing days and later preached to cricketers that followed him. Bedi took 266 Test wickets with a 5-wicket haul in an innings 14 times. Jadeja has 275 Test wickets with a 5-wicket haul in an innings 12 times. Jadeja has two other skills that Bedi didn’t. Jadeja is one of the greatest fielders in the history of cricket and has a wide range of cricketing shots that makes him a skilful batter in all formats of the game. Jadeja has three hundreds and 19 half-centuries in Test cricket. He can bat calmly to take his team to safety. In other formats, he can be a destructive batter with an outstanding strike rate.
In India’s victory over Australia on Sunday, there were many heroes. For me, the real hero was the art of spin bowling in general and left-arm spin bowling in particular. Three Indian spinners took six wickets and completely bamboozled Australia on the day.
While he will continue to be celebrated for his all-round cricketing skills, I have come to realise that Ravindra Jadeja is one of the greatest left-arm spinners in the history of cricket.
Kush Singh @singhkb is founder, The Cricket Curry Tour Company. Views are personal
(Edited by Prashant)