Like his 5/124 in Ranchi shows, left-arm spinner has stood up on flatter pitches that have been unrewarding to India's premier tweaker
It is often said that fast bowlers hunt in pairs. In the Indian context, though, it becomes spinners. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have hunted in pairs many a times, bowling the team to victories on helpful or unhelpful pitches.
"If Lillee don't get you, Thommo will" was a famous chant the Australian fans shouted in the 1970s in support of the two great fast bowlers Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. The same applies to India's own Ashwin and Jadeja.
If Ashwin don't get you, Jadeja will.
It is this pair that has helped India to victories in the last year and taken them to the No. 1 Test rank.
When Ashwin failed to take more than just one wicket on his home ground Chennai against England, going for 1/151 and none in the second, it was Jadeja who picked up his career-best 7/48.
On spin-friendly Bengaluru pitch last week, when Ashwin managed only two wickets despite bowling a lot of overs, it was Jadeja who ended up with a five-wicket haul in less overs.
It was a similar story here on a batting-friendly Ranchi pitch. Apart from the bat-pad catch to dismiss Shaun Marsh on the first morning, Ashwin had no further rewards while Jadeja finished with his eighth five-wicket haul – 5/124.
So, what makes Jadeja tick on pitches on which Ashwin doesn't?
It will be unfair to say that Ashwin picks up wickets only on spin-friendly pitches. He took loads of them against New Zealand and England when the pitches played true.
Besides, Jadeja has the advantage of the rough created by India's right-arm pacers, consistently pitching on it and getting the ball to do the talking. It was this dry area that the 28-year-old from Saurashtra has been hitting, making certain deliveries turn and leave the right-handers while others skidded off the surface and went straight, like it did to dismiss the left-hander Matthew Wade.
Jadeja took all his wickets bowling from the southern end of the stadium while the pacers bowled over the wicket from the other end.
On playing Jadeja on this surface, Australia's centurion Glenn Maxwell said here on Friday: "There was this area on the wicket where it was a little bit dry and he kept on hitting around it and it just reacted differently. That was all. He was hitting that consistent spot and if it skidded on, it hit stumps and if it spun, you had a chance to nick it. It took him a while to find that awkward spot and we just wanted to find the singles on Thursday afternoon, but today (Friday) he was very accurate."
Former India left-arm spinner Venkatapathi Raju explained the reasons for Jadeja's success on certain pitches that do not offer the same rewards to Ashwin.
"Ashwin has more variety and wants to do a lot of things. Jadeja is more about consistency, keeping it tight. As a strike bowler, you tend to pick up more wickets. Jadeja is a guy who drains down the runs and bowls the nagging length where you have to play at it. Ashwin has got a different flight, more variations," Raju said.
Raju, currently a coach with International Cricket Council (ICC) helping associate nations, said it was not fair to say that Ashwin takes wickets only on turning tracks.
"We are used to seeing pitches with so much of turn. You are used to seeing more balls turning and jumping. For Ashwin, more the bounce, good for him," he said.
"Ashwin has been India's strike bowler for a long time. The amount of overs he is bowling should also be taken into consideration. Jadeja bowls off a short run-up, rolls his arm over and bowls with minimum variation. Sometimes, when your No. 1 bowler tries a bit and is not taking wickets, you feel he is not bowling well. That is not the case," Raju added.
For the record, Ashwin has bowled a whopping 802.3 overs till date in the 16 Tests so far starting against West Indies last year. Rolling the arm over and over must also have taken a toll on him.
Jadeja's teammate Yadav spoke highly of the spinner's wicket-taking abilities. "I think he is bowling the best he has been. He has got a lot of five-wicket hauls in recent times and he is bowling really well. Jadeja is the kind of bowler whose bowling style suits any type of wicket. His variations and his control are very good. If he gets even a bit of rough, he knows what his aim is, where he has to bowl. I think he is bowling at his best and he is getting his rewards for that."
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