Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh showered praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the left-hander scored an impressive knock of 77 runs off 123 balls in the first innings of the third Test match at Brisbane on Tuesday.
Jadeja joined forces with KL Rahul when India was struggling at 74-5 after Indian captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed after managing only 10 runs. The left-hander added 67 runs with in-form Rahul to keep India’s hopes of avoiding the follow-on alive.
The southpaw scored seven fours and one six in his fine knock as he once again proved his worth with the bat. Jadeja had gone wicketless in the first innings but Harbhajan Singh praised the all-rounder for his mental toughness.
“The expectations that were there with his bowling, he didn’t live up to them slightly. However, in batting, he did what the top-order batters couldn’t do. I will want to praise his mentality. His batting was terrific. A lot of runs were left to add when he came to bat,” Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports.
The Turbanator reckons Jadeja’s 77-run knock was equivalent to a century given the match situation.
“The significance of these 77 runs is much more than that. Whenever I see him play, I always think why he doesn’t get to bat up the order. It is beyond my understanding. He played brilliantly and with responsibility. I feel the value of his innings is equal to a hundred,” Harbhajan observed.
Harbhajan observed that Jadeja looked comfortable at the crease as he played his shots all around the ground and also left the good balls.
“If we look at the wagon wheel, he played shots in all directions, and more importantly, he played a lot of balls. He left the good balls and it wasn’t that he was only looking to play shots. It didn’t seem like he got beaten even once or looked uncomfortable,” he said.
“He knows how to drive the game. He hit fours only when the ball was in his zone. It was the same as what we saw in KL Rahul’s batting, the bat was next to the pads. He didn’t lunge forward to play even a single drive. He was playing the balls that were coming to him, or else he was leaving them,” Harbhajan elaborated.
Australia has set up a target of 275 runs but the third Test is heading towards the draw after rain intervention on the final day.
