Ravindra Jadeja recently provided a glimpse of his astuteness when he urged captain Rohit Sharma to declare the innings when he was just 25 runs shy of a maiden Test double ton. With the pitch aiding spin on Day Two of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Mohali, Jadeja, batting on 175, asked the captain to declare in order to take advantage of the conditions. Rohit did, and what followed was a nine-wicket match haul from Jadeja as India crushed Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs earlier this month. Jadeja’s elevation as Chennai Super Kings captain by MS Dhoni, could well turn out to be another masterstroke from the Indian legend.
Jaydev Shah
Although Jadeja has not led any team so far, Jaydev Shah, his former captain at Saurashtra and currently president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association, has no doubt in his captaincy abilities. “He loves taking responsibility and that is why he’ll be a good captain. There have been times in the Ranji Trophy when he urged me to give him the ball as he felt that he could get the breakthroughs. His involvement has always deep irrespective of his role. He reads the game very well. It is a great positive that he loves taking responsibility,” Shah told mid-day on Thursday.
Shah added: “No senior player has been with the franchisee as long as Jadeja. They also share a good rapport. He will do a very good job. He has been playing international cricket for close to 10 years now, so he has a lot of experience and knows how to deal with pressure. I am sure Dhoni would have seen something special in Jadeja.”
