Sir Ravindra Jadeja answers his critics

Jadeja served a dish of humble pie today

Ravindra Jadeja today at Kochi, put up his best performance in international cricket as he helped India rout England by 127 runs [SCORECARD]. Jadeja who was the man of the match, first played a scintillating knock at the death and remained not out on 61 from just 37 balls. He then bowled brilliantly picking up two English wickets in his seven overs, giving away just 12 runs. He also affected a run out and without any shadow of doubt played more than the all-rounder's role that is expected of him.

Jadeja is a talented player, but he has had more than his fair share of criticisms and cynicism over his place in the ODI team as an all-rounder. I'm one of those people who have time and time again have questioned his place in the team and not without good reasons. Jadeja as an all-rounder, simply hasn't filled the batting requirements of the Indian team coming in at number 7 as I had mentioned in an earlier article this week. In the article I had said that India still lack a world class all-rounder and Ravindra Jadeja hasn't done justice to the all-rounder tag as he has only fulfilled his role as a bowler and not as a batsman. But boy oh boy, wasn't I made to eat those words today? Maybe he read the article and thought to himself, 'I'll show'em who's an all-rounder.'

I'm happy that Jadeja proved me wrong today. After all as an Indian fan, how can I not celebrate when a youngster performs and leads his team to victory. It was certainly not expected, but the onus is now on Jadeja to make performances like this expected every time he has the bat or the ball in hand. That is what makes a player really good. People expect good players to succeed more than fail and this is what sets them apart and as good a surprise Jadeja's performance today was, it's time to make this a habit.

One performance is not going to take critics off Jadeja's back. He needs to do this consistently and only then will India have the all-rounder that they so dearly search for. But until then, today will be a strong reminder to all that Jadeja is one of immense talent and temperament - two things that no one doubted he possessed but seldom was showcased at the international arena. And today he showed that all those numbers in the domestic circuit and the IPL, aren't just mere numbers and that he indeed belongs at the international level. Now it's time for him not jut show that he belongs at the very highest level but actually belong at the very highest level and be a success there. Only then will he answer his critics, silencing them forever. 

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Posted in: England,EngvInd 2012,India,Ravindra Jadeja