Mumbai: Ravindra Jadeja is happy with another five-wicket haul in Test cricket but conceded that in sultry conditions on a slow turner, bowling indeed was hard work.
Jadeja’s 14th five-wicket haul came after a brief period of a lull as he looked menacing while mixing deliveries, pitching it on good length spots and letting the variable bounce and abrasive surface work in his favour.
However, Jadeja’s assessment of the track was also an indicator that possibly Ravichandran Ashwin has lost a bit of pace in his deliveries as it required more shoulder effort to get the zip off the surface.
“I thought you need to mix and match (in terms of speed). The wicket has bounce but off the surface, the ball isn’t taking off. Unless you put in a lot of shoulders and get the revs, it is difficult,” Jadeja told Jio Cinema.
“It was a special effort as it wasn’t no easy to bowl in this heat. Even Washy (Washington Sundar) bowled well and everyone played their roles to perfection. Now our batters will need to perform collectively,” Jadeja said.
When asked if he knew that he has got past Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma (both 311 wickets), the 35 year-old said that he only checks stats when a series is not on and he is at home.
About losing three wickets in a jiffy during the final half an hour, Jadeja said first target on Saturday would be to bat well enough get 150 runs which will give them first innings lead.
