Ravindra Jadeja has become the No 1 Test All-rounder in the updated list of ICC Test rankings by superseding the West Indies stalwart Jason Holder. Jadeja claimed the position after his magnificent all-around performance at Mohali in the first Test against Sri Lanka. Ravindra Jadeja catapulted 17 positions to get to the top; he is the only player who skips such a significant number of ranking positions to become no1.
Here are our picks for the best all-round performances ever recorded in the history of Test cricket!
This is not the first time he delivered such a massive win for India single-handedly; before, he did the same thing at Chennai against England, Dharamshala against Australia in 2017, etc. Absolute match-winners like Ravindra Jadeja always keep the courage to face any challenges & adversities.
Let’s take a look at his 5 best performances for India in Test matches:
1) 175* & 9/87 vs SL at Mohali (2022)
In the first Test match against Sri Lanka at IS Bindra Cricket Stadium, Jadeja came forth with his career-best figures in Test cricket. Against the mediocre bowling attack of Lanka, he smacked an unbeaten knock of 175* in the first innings and took a 5-wicket haul later with poor batting performance Sri Lanka bowled out on 174, a run less that of Jadeja’s inning.
While they came up to face a follow-on, India bundled them at 178, where Jadeja bagged 4 wickets and knocked-out big names like the skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, vice-captain Dhananjaya de Silva, etc., and India took a winning lead of 1-0 in the series.
2) 51 & 10/154 vs England at Chennai (2016)
One of the strongest Test sides of England was touring India in 2016, led by the skipper Alastair Cook. However, Ravindra Jadeja scored a gritty fifty & took 3 wickets in 1st innings as Karun Nair(303*) & Kl Rahul(199) covered the whole picture with their solid batting display.
But, the storm of Jadeja’s bowling had come in the second innings where he bagged 7 wickets, including the captain Sir Alastair Cook, Joe Root & Ben stokes, and Indian won the Test match by an innings and 75 runs.
3) 38 & 8/76 vs SA at Mohali (2015)
South African team led by Hashim Amla played the opening encounter of the 4-match Test series at Mohali. Ravindra Jadeja scored a 38 run knock and used the dry & dusty conditions very well by picking up three wickets in 1st innings, giving India a small but significant lead of 17 runs on a hard batting surface.
But, as the pitch at Mohali eroded on further days, he started to spell magic & in the 2nd innings, Jadeja picked another 5-wicket haul, and India won the game by a massive margin of 108 runs.
4) 43 & 7/98 vs Aus at Delhi (2017)
The Shane Watson-captained team Australia tasted Indian subcontinental conditions at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. The young Jadeja playing the 5th game of his Test career had displayed his consistent & disciplined spin bowling. In the first innings, he scored a handy knock of 43 & picked 2-wickets of Shane Watson & Glenn Maxwell.
While, in the second innings, he thumped Australia by clipping a 5-wicket haul, where he ripped through their whole batting line-up and bagged a man of the match award for his fantastic performance.
5) 63 & 4/81 vs Aus at Dharamshala (2017)
A low-scoring encounter where the stalwart Ajinkya Rahane made his captaincy debut, but the limelight was covered-up by Ravindra Jadeja as he owned the complete proceedings of the game.
Scoring a highly crucial knock of 63 runs in the first phase, he got 1 wicket of Mathew Wade’s wiki. While in the second innings, as usual, a rugged playing surface became more challenging for Aussies by the lethal bowling of Jadeja. He got a 3-wicket haul & wrapped-up Australian innings, while India won the Test match by 8 wickets.
