Ravindra Jadeja Reveals Batting Strategy Behind Match-Winning Knock Against LSG

Speaking on Star Sports' 'Amul Cricket Live' and JioHotstar's 'Google Search AI Mode Match Centre Live', RR all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja weighed in on his batting approach, bowling slow on Lucknow pitch and the reason why he didn't finish his full quota of overs.

Ravindra Jadeja delivered a superb all-round performance, scoring a brisk 43 off 29 balls and picking up a key wicket, while a disciplined bowling display spearheaded by the pace duo of Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger helped Rajasthan Royals snap their two-match losing streak with a 40-run victory over LSG on Wednesday.

Talking about his batting, Jadeja said, "When I was batting, it wasn't that easy. LSG have quality fast bowlers, who were bowling with pace and in good areas. It was a red-soil surface, so there was bounce, and they were getting the ball to seam. We kept losing wickets and couldn't build any partnerships. So, Donovan and I spoke about taking the innings deep. But in T20 cricket, you have to keep taking risks here and there to get to a good score. Unfortunately, he got out at the wrong time. I was just calculating the overs and was aware that Mayank Yadav might bowl the final over. I just wanted to use his pace, with a short leg-side boundary and mid-off and mid-on both up. Three of the deliveries were short, and he played a bluff by bowling one full, but luckily, I was able to score a boundary off that as well. We got those 20 runs, and as a team, you gain confidence when your bowlers have a few extra runs to play with."

Asked to bat first, RR made 159/6 on the back of Jadeja's fighting 43 off 29 balls and a brisk knock of 19 runs from Shubham Dubey.

Defending a small total, RR managed to bowl out the hosts on 119 within 18 overs and win the match by 40 runs. Jadeja also picked the crucial wicket of Nicholas Pooran.

On bowling slow on that Lucknow surface, the all-rounder said, "When I was batting against Digvesh Rathi, a few of his deliveries were stopping in the wicket. So, I thought that if I bowled slow on this surface, I might get some purchase as well. I didn't want to give any pace to either Mitch Marsh or Pooran, because they are big hitters and are known to hit big. So, I bowled slower, but I also wanted to vary my pace, as I didn't want to be predictable. If they hit a six or two, all the pressure built earlier gets released, reducing the margin of runs required."

The surface was helping the seam bowlers as Nandre Burger (27/2), Jofra Archer (20/3) and Brijesh Sharma (18/2) bowled economical spells and dismantled LSG batting lineup.

Jadeja finished his quota of four overs in this match after failing to fo the same in the last couple of matches. Despite bowling brilliantly against KKR (8/2 in three overs) in the last game, he couldn't complete his four overs in that match.

On not being able to finish his quota of overs in a couple of games previously, he said, "When I come to the ground, I leave my personal ego in the hotel room. I just think about contributing in whatever way the team wants from me. When it comes to batting, I wanted to take it deep in this game, because if I had gotten out in the 17th or 18th over playing a wrong shot, we wouldn't have reached 159 and might have fallen 20-25 runs short. Chasing a smaller target might then have been easier for LSG. In T20 cricket, every surface, condition, and match situation is different, so you have to adapt accordingly. If, on a given day, the team feels that I have a negative match-up against a particular batter, I understand that. It might work, or it might not; that's part of the game."

RR are currently at the second place in the points table with 10 points in seven matches. They will clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their next match on Saturday.

- ANI