The greatness of SIR Ravindra Jadeja, the test cricketer

Ravindra Jadeja, aka Rockstar*, as the great Shane Warne called him, recently took his 300th test wicket in the recently concluded test series against Bangladesh. How much significance does it hold?
 
Someone who follows Indian cricket closely, understands that the feat which Jadeja achieved is something to be celebrated, since he recently took his run scoring tally to more than 3000.

In test matches, only 10 players have achieved this feat before Jadeja. With two Indians, his spin twin the legendary Ashwin and the great man Kapil Dev featuring in it.

Now let’s dig in deeply and take a closer look into the numbers. In any form of cricket, a batsman having an average of more than 35 is considered a good batsman, whereas a bowler having an average below 25 is considered a great bowler.

In test cricket, there have been only two cricketers in the history of the game to have these numbers after playing more than 50 test matches, the other being the iconic Imran Khan (min. 1000 runs & 50 wickets). These numbers are unheard of and are purely stuff of dreams. In other words, there have been only two perfect all-rounders with such unprecedented numbers, him and IK. 

Diving further deep, Jadeja the bowler has always been phenomenal since his debut, but there were question marks over him not replicating his first-class exploits as a batsman in test cricket. Since 2022, however, Jadeja the batsman has flourished leaps and bounds and has become one of the most prolific batsmen of Team India.

In the last two years he averages more than 44 with the bat, with 3 of his 4 centuries coming during this phase. He’s now looked up to as one of the linchpins of India’s ever solid middle order. Not only with bat, but his numbers as a bowler have also been on a rise.

The hallmark of his bowling in test matches has always been his accuracy, while with bat he’s worked extremely hard on his defence and technique. With the hunger to not throw his wicket and bat for long, he has taken India out of a tricky situation plenty of times in the recent past. Barring South Africa, he commands respectable batting numbers in every country that he has played in.

Jadeja, the test cricketer, should gain much more respect and ovation by the people than he actually does. His numbers are truly godly in test cricket. Jaddu, as he is fondly called, is 35 years old now and is moving towards the later stages of his career.

With him announcing his retirement from T20s, the fans would love him to continue playing test cricket for a few years at least. Jadeja is already one of the greats of the game, and it’s about time that he gets his respect, before it’s too late. He has earned it as much as any other superstar of Indian cricket has.

Ravindra Jadeja & Imran Khan stats comparison–

Batting Performance in Test Matches

Bowling Performance in Test Matches