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India's veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja disclosed that head coach Gautam Gambhir's decision to promote him from tail-end to an established number six resulted in a switch in his mentality and became fundamental to the success that he has enjoyed with the bat in Test format this year.
Jadeja was adjudged the Player of the Series for his all-around efforts from Ahmedabad to Delhi against the West Indies. He notched an unbeaten 104(176) on Ahmedabad's grass-covered strip in the first innings and returned with figures of 4/54 in the second as India revelled in a commanding win by an innings and 140 runs. The 36-year-old was named the Player of the Match as the series headed to the national capital. India batted in both innings, but Jadeja remained in the dressing room, possibly due to the situation not demanding his presence. With the ball, he scythed 3/46 and 1/102 as India swept the series away with a seven-wicket triumph. "We've been doing wonderful work as a team, in terms of batting and bowling. I think we know what brand of cricket we've been playing over the last five, six months. So that's a good sign as a team that we continue to do it over a long period of time. As Gauti bhai (Gambhir) said, I'm at number six now," Jadeja said during the post-match presentation. "So I'm thinking more as a proper batsman, and that works for me. In the past, for many years, I've been batting at number eight, number nine, so my mindset was a little different from what I have now. I'm just trying to spend more time in the middle whenever I get a chance to bat," he added. Jadeja could have joined a special club if he had managed to muster up 10 more runs with his bat. The seasoned star is on the verge of becoming just the fourth player in the history of cricket to complete 4000 Test runs and 300 wickets in the format after Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Daniel Vettori. Jadeja will now have to wait for next month's two-match Test series against the World Test Championship winners, South Africa, scheduled to take place in November. Despite the wait, Jadjea isn't focused on personal milestones. "To be honest, I don't think too much about records. I just focus on contributing with both bat and ball to help my team win. I always look forward to doing that. I feel that if I don't perform with bat and ball, then it doesn't reflect my value as a player. I'm always keen and give my 100 per cent. I think this is my third Man of the Series trophy, so yeah, I'm very happy to bring it back home," he concluded. (ANI)
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