Ravindra Jadeja produced another stellar all-round performance in home conditions as he downed England in Rajkot, his home city, with a century and a five-wicket haul. For this, he received the Man of the Match award, but commentator Sanjay Manjrekar believes Yashasvi Jaiswal, who slammed a double century, shouldn’t have gone empty-handed.
Ravindra Jadeja bagged his ninth Player-of-the-Match awards in home Tests, which is the joint-most for an Indian, equalling Anil Kumble’s tally.
Overall, Jadeja has 10 Player-of-the-Match awards in Test cricket- the joint-third most for India in Tests, behind Sachin Tendulkar (14) and Rahul Dravid (11).
Speaking with ESPNcricinfor after the match, Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out that Jaiswal has now cracked two double hundreds in consecutive Tests, yet he didn’t get the Man of the Match award in either; Jasprit Bumrah bagged the award in Vizag for his exceptional bowling.
Manjrekar said, “It’s really tragic that despite getting two double centuries, he doesn’t end up Player of the Match. Because Somebody else has more match-winning contributions.“
Jaiswal missed out on the Man of the Match awards, but he is a strong contender to get the Man of the Series award. He has racked up 545 runs so far; no other batsman has even 300 runs in the series.
Ravindra Jadeja dedicates ‘special’ Man of the Match award to his wife
Ravindra Jadeja dedicated his “special” man of the match award to his wife, Rivaba. He said his wife has been a pillar of strength for him, more so amid the tussle between Ravindra and his father, Anirudhsinh Jadeja, who has made sensational allegations against Rivaba and her family. The Jadeja family’s dispute has become public in which the all-rounder has shown support to his wife.
Ravindra said, “It is a special feeling to take a 5-wicket haul in the second innings. And that too, a hundred and a 5-wicket haul in the same Test is special. This is a special Man of the Match at my home ground. I would like to dedicate this award to my wife. She has been working hard behind the scenes, mentally. She always gives me confidence.”
The fourth Test match is scheduled to take place in Ranchi from Friday.
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