IND vs SA: In the second ODI played in Raipur, Team India had to face defeat despite making a big score of 359 runs. Heavy dew and wet ball increased the problems for the Indian bowlers, but the biggest debate was about the slow batting of Ravindra Jadeja. Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan raised direct questions on Jadeja’s ‘intent’ and said that his innings pushed India back.
Where did Jadeja go?
Team India had made a great start to its innings. Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad played balanced batting and scored centuries and gave a steady start to India. In the end, captain KL Rahul also played a stormy innings of unbeaten 66 runs in just 43 balls, taking India’s score beyond 350. After that, Jadeja, who came to bat, scored only 24 unbeaten runs in 27 balls.
Irfan Pathan’s statement
Irfan Pathan looked a bit angry about Jadeja’s slow innings. Irfan said in his show ‘Seedhi Baat’, “Everyone was scoring runs at a fast strike rate, but Jadeja was playing at a strike rate of 88. Playing so slowly in such a strong position hurts the team. Jadeja’s intention was not visible at all.”
He further said that this was not just something he said later, but he had also given the same warning during the commentary.
South Africa showed strength
After India’s batting, it seemed that the match was in hand, but dew changed the whole story. South Africa started cautiously and then Markram, Bavuma, Britzke and Brewis troubled the Indian bowlers a lot.
Along with this, Pathan also praised the South African bowlers. He told that the African bowlers stopped India’s run-flow by giving only 55 runs between 39 and 49 overs. Pathan further said, “If India had reached around 370, the situation could have been different, but South Africa bowled well in the last 10 overs.”
