NewDelhi December 5 :India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja turned out to be the star with the bat and he propelled the Men in Blue to a score of 161\/7 in the opening T20I against Australia. Coming in to bat at number 7, Jadeja remained unbeaten on 44 off 23 balls. His innings included five fours and a six. Had it not been for Jadeja’s knock, Team India would have fallen short of the 150-run mark.<\/p>\n
On his way to 44* off 23, Jadeja achieved a huge milestone that was earlier owned by none other than MS Dhoni. The all-rounder now holds the record of highest score by an Indian batsman at number 7. Dhoni, who retired from international cricket in August this year, had scored 38 off 18 against England in 2012. He held the record for 8 long years.<\/p>\n
An automatic pick in every format now, Jadeja’s arrival to the crease was delayed due to the addition of an extra batsman. Team India had a number of changes in the playing XI. There was no place for Shreyas Iyer and Yuzvendra Chahal while Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer made their way into the playing XI.<\/p>\n
Despite not being part of the ‘original’ playing XI, Chahal is playing his part as he has come in for Jadeja as a concussion substitute. Jadeja was hit on the helmet during the first innings. He was ruled out of the game during the mid-innings break.<\/p>\n
There have been occasions of players suffering a delayed concussion and that was the case with Jadeja too. The replacement decision did not amuse Australia’s head coach Justin langer. The former Australia batsman was seen arguing with David Boon, the match referee for the opening T20I.<\/p>\n
Chahal has made presence felt and scalped two wickets so far. Talking of Jadeja, he will only be cleared for the 2nd T20I after clearing the concussion test.<\/p>\n