IND vs ENG: Ravindra Jadeja comes into his own

If Ravindra Jadeja is allowed to celebrate in his own way after taking a wicket, he might want to pull out a stump and do the 'Rajput-style' with it just like how he does with the bat every time he crosses fifty in Tests.

The Saurashtra left-arm spinner bowled India to a sensational victory on Tuesday that has only enhanced the stature of captain Virat Kohli and his team. Just when the fifth and final Test was heading to a dull draw with Alastair Cook's England batting to save the Test, Jadeja's perseverance of bowling in the rough and getting the ball turn worked wonders.

Seven wonders of Jadeja, you may call it, for the 28-year-old Saurashtra left-armer struck repeatedly in the post-lunch to give India the belief of achieving a sensational victory. The damage began with Jadeja dismissing his 'bunny' Cook to a perfectly-placed field when the England captain played into the hands of KL Rahul at leg-slip.

Once the breakthrough was obtained, it was a matter of creating doubts in the Englishmen's minds. It was also a tribute to Jadeja to bowl to the set field. But for leg-spinner Amit Mishra castling Liam Dawson with a googly, Jadeja had a hand in all the other nine dismissals, seven with the ball and two in the outfield including a brilliant athletic catch to get rid of Jonny Bairstow top-edge.

It may have been a case of Jadeja emerging out of the shadows of off-spinning mate Ravichandran Ashwin. On Tuesday, he finished with best career innings figures of 7/48 and got what if felt like to have a 10-wicket bag that Ashwin, who ended the match at 1/207, has done seven times in Tests.

Ask Kohli if Jadeja has finally emerged out of Ashwin's shadows and the captain says: "We, as a team, don't think that everyone is playing in Ashwin's shadow. Everyone running in with the ball thinks he wants to take a wicket for Team India. These comparisons or scenarios are created in the outside world. That's something we don't focus on. Jadeja takes a lot of pride in his performance. Obviously, as a bowler he wants to pick up as many wickets as he can. But if you see, every time Ashwin has picked up wickets, the economy rate from the other end is not more than two. Ashwin will himself tell you that Jadeja has played a massive role in him making those breakthroughs because there is literally no run from both ends. They bowled brilliantly in partnership for us this whole season."

With 10 wickets in the match, Jadeja finished the series with 26 sticks, two less than Ashwin's 28.

Jadeja understood that he had a job on hand, especially when Ashwin was not picking up wickets on the final day. Jadeja was brought into the attack on the final day only in the 20th over. Kohli explains the reasons: "We tried initially, we created a lot of chances. Obviously, when you have decent rough in front of you and when two left-handers are batting, you invariably get the off-spinner going because he can spin the ball from the stumps and Ashwin created those opportunities for us.

"After that, it was a case of understanding that the wicket was slowing down, so we might not be able get so much help from the wicket. So, that's the time when we brought in Jadeja because he has got that extra pace on the ball and we just wanted to keep hitting that area and he did it pretty well. We tried Mishra as well from that end but we needed that extra pace on the ball. It's all about figuring out if the wicket is playing out nicely, what are the areas the bowlers can hit, and it takes a bit of a time. I guess some times and you don't rush into decisions. You see what's happening on the wicket and which bowler is bowling how and then you make that call. Today he was luckily good enough and we had enough overs to bowl them out."

England captain Cook did admit that he was not up to the mark against Jadeja this series. "I was missing straight balls or getting caught. I have actually got a good overall record against left-arm spin. My stats might have taken a bit of a dent in the last six weeks. Yes, I found him hard work. It's a strange thing for me and credit to him. He's found a weakness there and was relentless. I wasn't good enough to cope with it."

It all began in Rajkot when Cook was trapped by Jadeja on the first morning and decided against reviewing. "I should have reviewed in the first match and that might have been five," Cook said.