Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has silenced his critics with his phenomenal performance in all the formats has been ruled for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar series. Jadeja came into the test team for this series in the second test and has impressed everyone with his game. His bowling was never in doubt and he proved it in the few outings he had in this series. He took crucial wickets in the second test, made runs with the bat as well in the same match.
In the third test, the Indian team was evidently struggling when Australia was batting in the first innings. He got the team back in the game with his 4-wicket haul on the second day. He even produced a brilliant run-out at the end to dismiss the centurion Steve Smith. He came out to bat for India in a tricky situation but didn’t get any support from the other end. During this period Jadeja suffered a nasty blow to his left thumb off Starc’s well-directed short pitch delivery. He was assessed by the team physio and got the thumb taped. He continued to bat with the tail and soon realized that the innings won’t last long with the tail. He got a quick and crucial stand with Siraj for the final wicket. They added 28 runs for the final wicket.
Jadeja was sent for scans and didn’t take the field for the Australian second innings. His services with the ball were duly missed as the Aussies gave a hard time to Indian bowlers for the rest of their innings. It was later declared that Jadeja had a dislocated thumb and most likely won’t bat. It was later revealed that Jadeja might come out to bat if required by the team. Fortunately, the Indian team showed resistance and batted for 131 overs. Ashwin and Vihari got the team home safe while Pujara and Pant got the team into a winning position.
Now that the third test is over, the Indian team has revealed that the left-arm all-rounder is ruled out for the remainder of this series and will most likely go under surgery on January 12. The rehabilitation will likely take 4-5 weeks and Jadeja might miss the England series at home.