‘Difficult Phase…’: Ravindra Jadeja Recounts ‘Tough’ Rehab Days After Bamboozling Australia | Cricket News

Ravindra Jadeja was the star for India against Australia on Day 1 of the first Test in Nagpur. Jadeja took 5 for 47 on his international comeback with the prized scalps of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith as Australia managed only 177 in their first innings on the opening day of the Border-Gavaskar series. At stumps, Rohit Sharma’s counter-attacking 56 not out put India in complete command with hosts ending the day at 77 for one and trailing by 100 runs. Jadeja, in a post-match press conference, added that when Smith and Labuschagne added 84 runs for the third wicket, breaking the partnership was uppermost on his mind.

“They were searching for runs and it wasn’t easy to rotate the strike and get runs off each ball. (So they) also started trying different things. And once they had a partnership, I thought, I should bowl as many dot balls as possible consistently. (The) pitch wasn’t offering turn, so (I) had to bowl (in) good areas and maintain good line and length to break the stand,” he said.

Only wanted to come back when 100 per cent fit

Jadeja was provisionally picked for the Test series against Bangladesh in December last year but he said that he only wanted to return once he was fully fit and had the confidence back.

“It was (a) difficult (phase) as I have missed a lot of cricket in the last five months, missed important tournaments (Asia Cup and World T20). Rehabs are tough for players and even tougher is to keep the level of performance post rehab. You need that confidence and there are always doubts that (whether) post injury your performance will remain the same or not,” he said.

“My motivation was to get fit as quickly as possible as I had already spent five months away from cricket and I wanted to be 100 per cent fit, so it took me some more time. The doubt that I wanted to clear is whether or not I am able to give that 100 per cent in match situation.”

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