India's senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the star for his team on Day 1 of India vs Australia 1st Test in Nagpur. Not for a moment did it feel that Jadeja was returning from a long injury layoff. The left-arm spinner completed his 11th five-wicket haul (5/47) on Day 1, picking prized wickets of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, as India bowled out Australia for just 177.
On Day 2, Jadeja scored a superb unbeaten half-century (66*), stitched an unbroken 81-run stand with Axar Patel for the 8th wicket, putting India on the driver's seat, to end the Day with a decent 144-run lead.
Jadeja, in a post-match press conference, added that when Smith and Labuschagne added 84 runs for the third wicket on Day 1, breaking the partnership was uppermost on his mind.
"They were searching for runs and it wasn't easy to rotate the strike and get runs off each ball. (So they) also started trying different things. And once they had a partnership, I thought, I should bowl as many dot balls as possible consistently. (The) pitch wasn't offering turn, so (I) had to bowl (in) good areas and maintain good line and length to break the stand," he said.
Jadeja was provisionally picked for the Test series against Bangladesh in December last year but he said that he only wanted to return once he was fully fit and had the confidence back.
"It was (a) difficult (phase) as I have missed a lot of cricket in the last five months, missed important tournaments (Asia Cup and World T20). Rehabs are tough for players and even tougher is to keep the level of performance post rehab. You need that confidence and there are always doubts that (whether) post injury your performance will remain the same or not," he said.
"My motivation was to get fit as quickly as possible as I had already spent five months away from cricket and I wanted to be 100 per cent fit, so it took me some more time. The doubt that I wanted to clear is whether or not I am able to give that 100 per cent in match situation."
(With PTI Inputs)