Dear Jaddu,
First up, a thousand apologies. On June 30, this correspondent had written a piece on RevSportz, titled – ‘An all-round problem in the form of Jadeja compounds India’s woes’. It was done on the heels of India losing an unlosable Test at Headingley. Simmering anger clouded the judgment. It shouldn’t have happened. A few fallow performances were the trigger, forgetting the fact that even the very best sometimes go through a lean period. The downside of being so good is that only failures get noticed.
India lost another unlosable Test at Lord’s. But your defiance won hearts. There were two warriors on that hallowed turf on Day 5 of the third Test. Ben Stokes was England’s commander, while you represented valour on the Indian side. The game ended in heartbreak for you. But even in defeat, you were a winner, like King Porus was a ‘winner’ in The Battle of Hydaspes.
Triumph has always played peek-a-boo with you. As you were playing a lone ranger at Lord’s, the mind raced back to your 77 off 59 balls in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. It was a herculean effort from a hopeless situation that took India so close. Eventually, though, the victory remained elusive. At Lord’s also, your 61 not out off 181 balls – your fourth consecutive half-century in the ongoing series – couldn’t take India over the line. But we will remember the fight.
Don’t give a hoot about the nitpickings that followed. Social media gives poison a platform and should never be taken seriously. But some experts felt that you could have been a little more proactive in terms of upping the ante. “The two bowlers he (Jadeja) could have potentially taken on were Chris Woakes, who is slightly slower in the air, and then (Shoaib) Bashir and Joe Root,” Anil Kumble said after the game. “I know they are off-spinners, taking the ball away, but it wasn’t turning square. So, there wasn’t a lot to worry about in terms of spin or the outside edge. Jadeja has played on tougher pitches and against better bowling. I thought he could have taken a chance.”
The great leg-spinner is entitled to his opinion, but Nitish Kumar Reddy’s dismissal on the stroke of lunch ostensibly queered the pitch for you. With only Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj by your side, farming the strike was a safer approach. Also, the red Dukes, as is its wont, became soft like a cake and trying to clear the rope, with six players in the deep, was always fraught with risk. Lord’s dimensions, its squarish shape, were also an impediment, for not many twos were available. Playing down the ground was an option, but the England bowlers never bowled that length.
Usually, you are pretty good at masking your emotions. I remember many moons ago, in 2015, having a conversation with you, after you were dropped from the Indian team for the tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. You were typically matter of fact, driving home your point that interviews wouldn’t take you back to the national team fold. “I would rather let my cricket do the talking,” you had said. And you walked the talk, taking 24 wickets in two Ranji Trophy matches for Saurashtra, and scoring 91 and 58 in two innings. This correspondent broke the story of your Indian team comeback. The clue came by chance.
Then, you reached the next level as a cricketer, especially as a batsman. Since 2018, you have been scoring at an average north of 42 in Tests. In the current Indian team, you are the third-best batsman, behind Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, good enough to bat at No. 3. Gill has all the talent in the world and a spectacular range, but to be part of the conversation, he needs to score runs under pressure, in tricky conditions.
After the Lord’s defeat, you looked distraught. It is indeed very difficult to pick oneself up after such a gut-wrenching loss. But you are a champion, the senior-most player in the team. Through your old-school grit, you have to show the way. Good luck for Manchester.
Best,
A humble hack
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