Ravindra Jadeja’s tenacity to return to the field was evident during Saurashtra’s nets practise on Monday. Jadeja was one of just two players to take a sustained shot at the nets during a practise that lasted more than three hours and twenty minutes. At the MA Chidambaram Stadium, he had just finished stretching and practising his fielding techniques. Following that, he played a game of batting and bowling in the practise nets. He was also spotted providing motivational speeches in between, first to the squad as they huddled, then to individual players.
After suffering a knee injury during the Asia Cup in September of last year, Jadeja has had nearly five months off from playing competitive cricket. Cheteshwar Pujara and regular skipper Jaydev Unadkat will sit out Saurashtra’s last Ranji Trophy group match.
The BCCI is said to have suggested relaxation for both before the Test series against Australia, which starts on February 9 in Nagpur. For the first two Tests of the four-match series, both players are on the India team. Starting on February 2, Pujara, Unadkat, and Jadeja will all be a part of India’s training camp in Nagpur.
Jadeja must demonstrate his match fitness before being added to the 17-man roster. His IPL hometown of Chennai, where Saurashtra will play Tamil Nadu starting on Tuesday, was the ideal setting for his competitive comeback.
Jadeja wants to gather playing experience before reporting to the India camp because his last first-class match was the fifth Test against England in Birmingham last July.
When questioned about his fitness, he said with a big smile, “I’m almost ready. “I spent 20 days at the NCA [National Cricket Academy] practising batting and bowling, but a match is quite different from practise. I’m here because I wanted to play one game before the Australia series. I’m hoping to be completely recovered in time to play the first Test.”
Jadeja underwent surgery for a ligament injury in September 2022, and his anticipated recovery was derailed when, although originally being chosen for both the ODI and Test teams, he was later excluded from the tour to Bangladesh in December. Even though he said he didn’t have any knee pain as of Monday, he said he wouldn’t be bowling all of the innings against Tamil Nadu.
If you play a competitive game after five months, you first don’t feel confident, he claimed. But you’ll improve more and more as you go.
“Injuries occur often in sports. If you get hurt while playing any sport, you have to redo everything. It’s the same in cricket. Since I was out of commission for five months, I must once more focus on improving my fitness before working on my abilities. Once I feel confident again and am fit, I will undoubtedly work on improving my talents.
Jadeja took a hit to the arm from the side-arm thrower while batting in the nets and momentarily appeared uncomfortable. He returned to bowl later, but not before he kept batting.
When discussing the obstacles he had to overcome to make a full recovery from his injuries, he said: “You feel awful, nobody wants to be hurt in the middle of the big game.
It is a component of the game. That needs to be kept in mind, and you need to be ready for it. cannot be done. There is no assurance that cricket players won’t sustain injuries. It’s nice presently and improving. I am gaining that confidence day by day.
“When I am bowling, I will move slowly. I must first assess how my leg feels before deciding.
Jadeja was occupied with campaigning for his wife in the Gujarat assembly elections during his time away from cricket. He claimed that at this time, he generally stopped playing cricket.
Fortunately, I had other things on my plate, he remarked. “My entire attention was on it. It greatly aided me. I also didn’t give cricket much thought. In the first three months following my injury and surgery, I was preoccupied with election-related activities. That was really helpful. I wasn’t particularly watching the games involving [India]. I did see a couple games, though.”
But for now, he is “Looking forward to this game with great excitement. I hope both as a team and as a person it works out well.”
