Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting is hailed as one of the greatest captains cricket has ever seen, having won 2 World Cups. After retiring as a coach and commentator, his predictions before every series have come true at times. On the first day of the tournament, which started on February 9, the ICC had announced on the Internet that Australia, which is touring India, has a high chance of facing a heavy defeat in the first match held in Nagpur.
He had openly spoken on the ICC website that when Ravindra Jadeja, who was doubted to play especially early on, was included in the playing eleven for the first match, he was going to keep Australia awake. In the end, as he had predicted, Australia suffered a crushing defeat by an innings and 132 runs. Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja, who was shining as the world’s number one spin bowling all-rounder after the 2019 World Cup, was injured in the 2022 Asia Cup and did not participate in the T20 World Cup. It was the main reason for India’s defeat in those 2 series.
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Jadeja, who underwent surgery for the injury, campaigned for his wife in the Gujarat elections before fully recovering. So disgruntled, the BCCI made it a condition that you play in the Ranji Trophy to prove your fitness and form to play in this Australian series. Subsequently, Ravindra Jadeja proved his quality by taking 7 wickets in one innings against Tamil Nadu in Ranji in Chennai, and was directly selected in the first match in Nagpur and scored 70 runs and 7 wickets in Australia’s defeat and won the man of the match award.
Ricky Ponting said on the ICC website on February 9 that Ravindra Jadeja was going to give Australia sleepless nights after watching Ashathi’s comeback in the Ranji Trophy match and dismissing Steve Smith on the first day in Nagpur. “I saw him make a comeback in first-class cricket last week, taking probably 11 (8) wickets. That’s when I knew he was going to give the Australians a sleepless night.”
“Because his pace and line on pitches like this will give right-handed batsmen a huge challenge. Especially since he can pitch the ball on the stump line all the time. Some of the balls will spin. Few balls will slide like the one that got Steve Smith out today. That means he has 2 threatening balls. One is rotatable. Another can go straight after the pitch and bolt through the batsmen’s barrier.”
“In that way, if his body cooperates to the extent that he is completely amazing in all 4 matches of this series, he will be the highest wicket-taker in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy series,” he said. It can be said that Ravindra Jadeja, who caused the defeat in the first match, has really given the Australian team sleepless nights at the moment.
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And as Ricky Ponting said, Ravindra Jadeja is likely to take more wickets in this series. Because the last time in 2017 Border – Gavaskar Cup on Indian soil, he surpassed Ashwin by 25 wickets and set the record as the player who took the most wickets in the 2-1 (4) victory and won the Man of the Series award.