He would have ended up with a 7-wicket haul

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja could have finished with as many as seven wickets if he had bowled from the opposite end on Day 3 of the first Test against the West Indies in Ahmedabad. The 36-year-old finished with incredible figures of 4/54 in 13 overs, helping India pull off a victory by an innings and 140 runs.

Jadeja went wicketless in his only three overs in the first innings but made amends in an extended spell the second time around. The visitors were shot out for 162 and 146 in the two innings, respectively.

Talking about Ravindra Jadeja’s brilliant Player-of-the-Match showing, Chopra said on ESPN Cricinfo (2:20):

“Expected again from Ravindra Jadeja and that was after he bowled from the wrong end initially. So had he bowled from the North end, he would have ended up with a seven-wicket haul because the foot marks were there for him to exploit. He was bowled from the opposite end where there was very little help yet, again too good for the West Indian batters.”

Chopra added:

“Generational talent in Test cricket because he has lasted for this long to begin with. And one thing that has stood out for me – when you reach the highest point in your career, you hit a ceiling. And then you expect similar performances over a period of time with a little dip here and there. But you don’t expect going up from that certain standard. Yet with Jadeja, especially with the batting, you see that he’s still evolving and improving.”

His second innings bowling heroics aside, Jadeja also scored a sparkling 104* off 176 deliveries in India’s first innings total of 448/5 declared.

“Mohammed Siraj, with the effort he has put in” – Aakash Chopra on India’s standout bowler in the second innings

Aakash Chopra picked pacer Mohammed Siraj as India’s standout performer in the second innings of the first West Indies Test. The talented seamer picked up three wickets in the second innings after a four-wicket haul in the West Indies’ first essay.

“Mohammed Siraj, with the effort he has put in. Because one thing about Test cricket for Indians, we have opportunities to score easy Test runs sometimes. It happened in this Test match as well. As a spinner also, we have opportunities to pick up easy and cheap wickets and again it happened in this Test match. And it happens over a period of time. It’s only the Indian fast bowlers who do not get an opportunity to pick easy wickets and you have to work hard every single time,” said Chopra (via the aforementioned source).

He added:

“Mohammed Siraj decided I’ve not played any cricket for two months so I am going to put in the hard yards and try to take a few wickets because half the time we won’t even get to bowl in the second innings. This was the first time he picked up a single wicket in the second innings of a Test match in India. So for me, on a surface that had nothing on offer for fast bowlers, he picked three.”

The massive win helped India take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, with the second Test set to be played in Delhi, starting October 10.