Ravindra Jadeja's Batting Heroics Earn Praise from Old Ally: 'Proved Why He is a Game-Changer'

India had a remarkable day at the Gabba on day four, turning around a difficult situation to put themselves in a strong position for a possible hard-fought draw in the rain-affected third match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The contributions of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja were instrumental in India's escape, as the rest of the batting lineup faltered once again, much to the disappointment of fans.

India were sorely lacking for some backbone after many of the top order players were dismissed playing expansive shots. Cheteshwar Pujara played this role on India’s successful tours of Australia on the previous two occasions, and the Indian batter weighed in on India’s innings while speaking in his punditry stint for Star Sports.

“The partnership between KL and Jadeja was the standout partnership of this innings and now things are looking a lot better,” said Pujara, who averages over 47 in Australia with three centuries. Pujara was one of the heroes the last time out at the Gabba as his patient innings helped India wear down Australia’s bowlers.

Pujara was very complimentary of Rahul, who seems to have taken over that role for Pujara in the team while opening the batting. “And KL has showed that if you apply yourself, if you bat well, it’s a good pitch where you can score runs. It’s not a very difficult pitch where you can’t survive or where you can’t bat."

India lost wickets in rapid fashion on day one, reeling at 44-4 at one point. Rohit Sharma’s torrid form also continued as he was dismissed early on day four, but Rahul joined forces with Ravindra Jadeja, with the duo stabilising with a 67-run partnership.

India’s goal became to avoid the follow on, with Rahul and Jadeja’s performances helping with that. Pujara was also very complimentary of Jadeja for his hand, with his selection bearing fruit for the Indian team with a strong innings of 77 runs. Rahul scored a strong 82 before being dismissed by a stunner of a catch by Steven Smith at slip.

"So, yeah, I mean, it’s just about seeing through that new ball and KL showed that today. And even an important contribution from Ravindra because he was picked as a batter and he showed why he was picked,” concluded Pujara.

A terrific hand for the tenth wicket by Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah helped India overtake the follow-on target right before stumps on day three, putting them in a good position to survive and take a level series to the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.