MELBOURNE

 

THE value of an all-rounder is measured by the difference between his batting and bowling averages. The higher the difference, the more accomplished the said individual is considered. Garry Sobers, regarded as the greatest of all time, had a difference of 23.75; Jacques Kallis, unquestionably the most complete all-rounder in the post-Sobers era, suffered only slightly in comparison, his corresponding number reading 22.72. Ravindra Jadeja is clearly not in that league. The difference between his batting (35.61) and bowling (24.05) averages is 11.56, but even though he is well behind the great West Indian and the exceptional South African when it comes to batting numbers, he is the only one in this trio with more than 300 Test wickets. Where Sobers finished with 8,302 runs and 26 centuries from 93 Tests for an average of 57.78 and Kallis signed off with an average of 55.37, courtesy 13,289 runs from a whopping 166 Tests (45 hundreds), Jadeja has only 3,313 runs from 78

 

Tests. His average is 35.61, not Sobers-Kallis special but impressive on his own for someone who was initially viewed as only a left-arm spinner. His four centuries pale in comparison with the two maestros, but there is good reason for that. Where Sobers and Kallis batted exclusively in the top order, Jadeja has occupied the No 6 slot and above just 26 times in his 114 Test innings. He has seldom had a specialist batter for company for a long stretch while batting at No 7 and beyond, but has gradually learnt to work his way into the runs in the company of the tail, which is credit to his ability to think on his feet, to farm the strike, and to open his shoulders and play the big strokes when pushed into a corner. As a left-arm spinner, Jadeja doesn’t mesmerise like the recently retired R Ashwin or the mercurial Shane Warne. There is economy – in every sense -- to his bowling and a subtlety not easily visible to the naked eye. He relies on minor shifts in angles, trajectories, spin and pace more than huge, ripping turn and a bundle of tricks. The key to Jadeja’s bowling success lies in the repeatability of not just his action but also his craft. When he has a bad day in office, like in the first innings against Australia at the Gabba last week, it causes heads to snap because an expensive Jadeja is as rare as snow in the desert. In India’s last

 

Test before they left for Australia in the second week of November, Jadeja took ten wickets against New Zealand in Mumbai. Yet, he was left out of the first two Tests Down Under, Washington Sundar finding favour in Perth and Ashwin winning the nod for the pink-ball outing in Adelaide. A perceived revolving-door policy gave Jadeja his opening in Brisbane and he responded in style with his less glorified suit after a forgettable outing with the ball when he leaked runs like a faucet with a faulty washer. Jadeja’s left-handed batting has evolved remarkably in the last five years or so, from the time he was convinced that he was a ‘proper’ Test batter, not just a biffer of the cricket ball, which is how he saw himself. He has always had the tools without trusting them but the more he began to show confidence in his defence and his technique, the greater an asset he has turned out to be – after all, pace doesn’t faze him and he loves taking down spin with a shimmy of his quicksilver feet. With India in trouble at 74 for five in response to Australia’s 445, it was Jadeja who triggered rescue acts with KL Rahul and Nitish Kumar Reddy during consecutive half-century alliances. His command over the situation and quiet composure, neither a hidden skill, imposed itself on Australia, which is a good sign as the teams head into a mini two-Test series with everything on the line.