Ravindra Jadeja joins Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni in elite-list after Edgbaston 100 versus England

On Day 1 of the deferred final test at Edgbaston, India was reeling at 98/5. Put into bat by English captain Ben Stokes on an uneven surface, Jimmy Anderson and Matthew Potts combined to leave the visiting side in a spot of bother. With grey clouds sweeping in and out, dashing wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was joined by intrepid Ravindra Jadeja as the duo plundered 222 runs in a span of 38 overs. While Pant scythed a scintillating 146 off 111 balls, Jadeja played a solid hand, offering able support. Continuing from an overnight score of 83, the all-rounder reached triple-figures with back-to-back boundaries of Potts. Flashing square cuts on both occasions, the first flew between Joe Root and Zak Crawley at slips. The second was more controlled as the ball darted through the covers.

Also Read: Is Cheteshwar Pujara James Anderson’s bunny?

In doing so, Jadeja became only the fourth Indian to score two test hundreds in a calendar year, batting at #7 or lower. First achieved by Kapil Dev in 1986, MS Dhoni (2009) and Harbhajan Singh (2010) would repeat the great all-rounder’s feat. Ravindra Jadeja now enters this motley list, further burnishing his claim to all-rounder greatness.

Also Read: Pant, at 24, breaks massive Test records during 100-run knock vs England

It was also the third instance of two left-handers scoring hundreds for India in the same innings. Sadgopan Ramesh (110) and Sourav Ganguly (125) were the first left-handed pair to achieve this against New Zealand at Ahmedabad in 1999. Ganguly (239) and Yuvraj Singh (169) were the second set of southpaws to do so, this time at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium against Pakistan in 2007. On both occasions, the match ended in a draw.

Jadeja was eventually castled by Anderson, attempting to thwack an in-ducking delivery over mid-on. With the score reading 375/9, a sub-400 first-innings total was on the cards. But stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah leathered Stuart Broad– who reached 550 wickets with Shami’s dismissal- for 35 runs in one over, the highest in test cricket, stretching India’s total to 416.