Published 08:36 IST, December 26th 2020
Ravindra Jadeja does not lose focus despite collision, takes an absolute blinder
Ravindra Jadeja kept his eyes on the ball after colliding with Shubman Gill to take a blinder to dismiss Matthew Wade in the ongoing 2nd Test at MCG on Sat
- SportFit
- 2 min read
Ravindra Jadeja once again proved why he is arguably India's best and safest fielders as he took a brilliant catch to get rid of a well-set Australian opener Matthew Wade during the second Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
'Held the catch!'
This happened in the 13th over of Australia's first innings that was bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin. On the penultimate delivery, the veteran offie bowled a tossed up delivery around the line of middle and off stump as the southpaw advanced down the wicket and looked to hit the bowler towards the leg-side boundary for a maximum.
However, the batsman failed to time the ball as it took the top-edge and went a long way up in the air. At one point, it almost seemed as if the ball would land in between the two fielders, but both Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill are determined to hold on to it. Jadeja signals for it but a running Gill is unaware of the same and fails to notice the same. Eventually, they both go for the catch and collide with each other. But, Jaddu does not take his eyes off the ball and ends up taking a spectacular catch to bring curtains down on Wade's good innings.
The video of this superb catch was posted by Cricket Australia on their official Twitter handle with the caption 'Almost disaster! But Jadeja held his ground and held the catch!'
Even the fans were taken aback after Jaddu ended up pulling a stunner despite a collision.
Australia lose three early wickets
Australian skipper Tim Paine won the toss and decided to bat first. However, the Indian bowlers made the new ball talk nicely and both the openers were dismissed inside the first 15 overs. Joe Burns did not disturb the scorers and walked back after staying at the crease for 10 deliveries. Wade on the other hand departed for a 39-ball 30.
The Indians were ecstatic after they got the prized wicket of Steve Smith for a duck as the Australian scorecard read 38/3. Nonetheless, Marnus Labuschagne, who came out to bat at number four ensured that there were no further hiccups and kept the scoreboard ticking as the hosts are 65/3 at lunch. Labuschagne is unbeaten at 26.
Updated 08:43 IST, December 27th 2020