Ravindra Jadeja scored as many as 516 runs in India’s epic five-Test series in England which ended in a 2-2 draw. His tally is punctuated with five half-centuries and a gritty unbeaten century that helped India draw the fourth Test against all odds. Former India batter Ajay Jadeja has said that his namesake was arguably even more consistent than captain Shubman Gill, who himself broke a plethora of records by smashing a whopping 754 runs in the series.
The 36-year-old’s big moments started with the thrilling third Test at Lord’s, according Ajay Jadeja, where Ravindra scored 72 in the first innings and an unbeaten 61 in the second. The latter of those two innings is especially noteworthy as he shepherded the Indian tail for just over 50 overs and nearly took India to an improbable victory.
“He has been more consistent than even Shubman Gill. He had four innings that didn’t end, because the batting ended from the other end. In the entire series, there were only two innings where he got out early,” said Ajay Jadeja.
“If we try to remember his moments, it started with Lord’s, where you couldn’t win for sure, but he and (Mohammed) Siraj fought there. A change was seen there. The fortitude started from there. Then he kept standing in the next match and drew the match. Then he scored runs in this match (last Test) as well,” he observed.
Jadeja is the first Indian batter to have scored more than 500 runs in a Test series despite batting exclusive at No.6 or lower, overtaking the legendary VVS Laxman’s tally during India’s 2002 tour of the West Indies. He also broke West Indies legend Garfield Sobers’ record for most 50-plus scores in a single Test series in England while batting at No.6 or lowers, which has stood since 1966. Sobers had hit five 50-plus scores in a tour that year while Jadeja finished with six.
Jadeja is also only the visiting player after Sobers to score 1,000+ runs and take 30+ wickets in Tests played in England. Jadeja’s 516 runs have come at an average of 86 and he joined Gill (754) and KL Rahul (532) as the only three batters to go past the 500-run tally in the series.
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