150+ score and 9-wicket haul: Ravindra Jadeja reaches greater heights

Ravindra Jadeja missed a 10-fer in the match yet became the first player in history to take nine wickets and score 150+ runs in a Test. In the first Test between India and Sri Lanka Test at Mohali, it was Jadeja who led his team to victory with his terrific all-round performance. He first hit 175 in the first innings and then took a five-wicket haul to help hosts finish Sri Lanka’s first innings at just 174.

After being bowled out for 174 in the first innings, Sri Lanka lost 16 wickets on the day and was all out for 178 in their second innings. What makes their performance even poorer, is the fact that they were one short of Jadeja’s individual score in the first essay, and in the second they were three more. As a result, India leads the two-match series 1-0.

.@imjadeja is turning everything into gold! 🏏

Wonderful performance.#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/lBm6knZGNd

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 6, 2022 Bengaluru, starting March 12.

Earlier, in about 50 years, Ravindra Jadeja becomes the first cricketer to score more than 150 runs in an innings and take a five-wicket innings haul in a Test match. The first player to do so was Vinoo Mankad of India who had scored 184 runs and had picked up 5 wickets against England  in 1952.

Indians 150+ and 5 wkt haul in the same Test…
Vinoo Mankad 184 & 5/196 at Lord’s 1952
Polly Umrigar 172* & 5/107 at POS 1962
Ravindra Jadeja 175* & 5/41 at Mohali 2022#IndvSL #IndvsSL

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 6, 2022

After him, the West Indies player Denis Atkinson had amassed 219 runs against Australia in 1955 and had also picked up 5 wickets. Once again in 1962, Indian cricketer Polly Umrigar had smashed an unbeaten 172 runs against West Indies alongside picking 5 wickets.

World-famous allrounder Garry Sobers of West Indies had scalped 5 wickets alongside making 174 runs against England in 1966. Mushtaq Mohammad of Pakistan had amassed 201 runs against New Zealand in 1973 as he also picked up 5 wickets.

After 1973, for the first time, Ravindra Jadeja played an unbeaten 175-run innings along with 5 wickets against Sri Lanka in the ongoing Test match at Mohali.

Jadeja has had his 20th five-wicket haul in Test cricket and there are no marks for guessing who the player of the match will be when India complete the formalities.

Virat Kohli’s 100th Test and Rohit Sharma’s first game as skipper is turning out to be Jadeja’s match as his 5 for 41 in 13 overs had the islanders crashing in just 45 overs.