Cricket
Rahul Dravid lifted by Ravindra Jadeja inside dressing room, Virat Kohli in disbelief, Axar Patel’s eyes left wide open
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With yet another win, India continue to march towards their quest for the T20 World Cup. Starting their Super Eight campaign on a high, India pummelled Afghanistan by 47 runs to assert dominance. Whatever little chances Afghanistan had of surprising India, they were extinguished by Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya with the bat and later the ever-so-magnificence of Jasprit Bumrah with the ball. Afghanistan were clueless and knocked all over the place, eventually getting bowled out for 134.
The game had plenty of positives for India. Arshdeep Singh was tough to get away with, picking up 3/36. Rishabh Pant was again effective in his No. 3 role and SKY and Pandya made merry with the bat. But one big uptick that flew under the radar was Ravindra Jadeja. Sure enough, he endured another failure with the bat but picked up 1/20 to go along with three catches. The India all-rounder, who until a few days ago, had scored 0 runs, took 0 catches and had 0 wickets to show for his efforts, finally got off the mark in the T20 World Cup and although it could have been better, no complaints.
India’s solid run has plenty of similarities to seven months ago. They are unbeaten and marching towards the semi-finals. The fielding medal ceremony is back, too, but with a twist: former Indian cricketers announcing the winners. First, it was Ravi Shastri, then Yuvraj Singh. Yesterday, for a change, there were no special appearances in the dressing room, but the scenes that erupted were nothing less. Jadeja won the fielding medal, and presenting it to him was coach Rahul Dravid, who by the looks of it, is enjoying each and every moment of his final days as coach of the Indian team. Dravid was lifted by Jadeja, making for a beautiful moment.
Watch the incredible Team India dressing room scenes below:
“He is known for his lightning skills on the field but his sharp instincts were on full display today. It was Ravindra Jadeja,” said India’s fielding coach T Dilip.
Axar Patel, Virat Kohli in shock
While Jadeja revelled in the celebration, he mentioned Mohammed Siraj, a two-time fielding medal winner, in his short and simple speech. “This medal is very important. I am very happy to get it today and especially I am inspired from Mohammed Siraj. The one and only best fielder. Thank you Siraj, cheers,” he said.
Jadeja wasn’t the only show-stealer of the dressing room. He had a couple of contenders who didn’t fare too badly themselves. Arshdeep and Axar Patel. Arshdeep took a sharp catch at point to dismiss Najibullah Zadran off Bumrah while Axar picked up a good one himself to send back Azmatullah Omarzai off the bowling of Jadeja himself. But perhaps Axar wasn’t expecting the nomination. Heck, probably no one was, including Virat Kohli. Which explains why Axar’s eyes broadened and Kohli was left in utter disbelief when his name was called out.
Axar also picked up 1/15 and scored very viral 12 runs in the end off 6 balls. Tasked with scoring as many runs as possible in the final over. Axar struck a couple of boundaries off Naveen-ul-Haq to take India to above 180.
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