Ravindra Jadeja turned up in his rockstar mode with the ball against Australia at his “homeground” of Chepauk and caused major dents in the Australian middle-order as India gained an upper hand in the contest.
The IND vs AUS game, which kick-started both of their World Cup 2023 campaigns, was built up around the spin-friendly nature of the pitch at the Chepauk. The Indian spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, R Aswin, and Kuldeep Yadav were brilliantly effective on the pitch in Chennai.
Jasprit Bumrah got the first wicket of Mitchell Marsh, but Steve Smith and David Warner formed a solid second-wicket stand. However, then Kuldeep, Jadeja, and Ashwin got in the act to clean up the middle order quickly.
At the time of writing, Jadeja had taken 3 wickets in his first 8 overs. The first of those three dismissals was that of Steve Smith, who was looking dangerous having made 46 runs.
Interestingly, Jadeja had had a conversation with both the captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli before he got Smith’s wicket. Virat Kohli was seen having a serious conversation with Rohit and Jadeja, about the kind of shots Smith could play and what fields they should set for him.
Soon after, Jadeja bowled Smith, beating him on the outside edge and hitting the top of the off-stump, leaving the Aussie star bamboozled. Virat Kohli, too, gave a big reaction at Smith’s wicket, knowing how important that dismissal was for India.
Watch: Virat Kohli’s conversation with Ravindra Jadeja leads to Steve Smith’s wicket
Real Captain Virat kohli giving some tips to Paper Captain Rohit sharma 💪#Kingkohli#INDvsAUS #ViratKohli𓃵#FreePalestine #GazaUnderAttack #Israel #IsraelUnderAttack #Gaza #Palestine #Israel_under_attack #IsraelPalestineWar #طوفان_القدس #طوفان_الأقصى pic.twitter.com/FYpXxc3n4s
— Anshika (@Anshika0129) October 8, 2023
Jadeja clearly owns Smith 😂
Virat Kohli had chats with Rohit and jaddu before the over and he got wicket👀👑#INDVAUS #INDVSAUS #ChepaukStadium#jaddu #Chepauk #ViratKohli𓃵#ViratKohli #WorldCup2023#Ashwinpic.twitter.com/iGKPVZaUy7— MagNum (@magnum_vk18) October 8, 2023
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, Australia are 142/7 after 38 overs with Glenn Maxwell recently getting cleaned up by Kuldeep Yadav. Kuldeep has two wickets so far, Jadeja three, and Ashwin one. India will be trying to restrict Australia under 200.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey(w), Cameron Green, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
