Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Ravindra Jadeja returns with high five!

When India were playing their previous Test series away from home against Bangladesh in December last year Ravindra Jadeja was recovering from a knee surgery he had to undergo after suffering a freak during the countryrsquos Asia Cup T20 campaign in the United Arab EmiratesOut with a doubtThe 34yearold left handed allrounder from Saurashtra who had by then become an integral part of Team India across all formats mustrsquove been left wondering when hersquod be back to full match fitnessAny doubts of his successful comeback to international cricket were confined to scrapheap in emphatic style at Jamtharsquos Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here on Thursday when he grabbed a fifer his ninth in his 61st TestJadejarsquos brilliant five for 47 along with his longtime comradeinarm Ravichandran Ashwinrsquos three for 42 after two early strikes by seamers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj sent Australia tumbling to 177 all out in just under 64 overs soon after tea on Day 1 of the fourTest rubberJadeja played a pivotal role with his left arm orthodox slows when Australia were recovering from a shock start of two for the loss of openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner in 13 balls Jadejarsquos twin strike in as many balls when he dismissed the wellset Marnus Labuschagne 49 and Matt Renshaw for a duck off successive balls in the 36th over put India back on top And when he later deceived and clean bowled Indiarsquos longterm nemesis Steve Smith 37 soon afterwards for the fifth time in his career it was celebration time for the hosts as well as the bowler who once again showed how crucial his presence is in the Test squadIncidentally Jadeja who now has 247 wickets in 61 Tests had won the Man of the Match award for his allround show 63 runs with the bat and four wickets in 201617 at Dharamsala in the deciding fourth and final Test of the previous series fought between these two rivals in India In that series the last one between these two sides on Indian soil won by the hosts 21 Jadeja took 25 wickets while Ashwin claimed 21 Their combined haul today gave glimpses of what lay in store for this BorderGavaskar TrophyAlso Read Dravids wild roar eclipses onfield celebrations after Sirajs heroics power India to dream start WatchJadeja relied on his pace off the pitch and accuracy with subtle variations in spin and trajectory to pick up wickets on a pitch that did not pose any demons for the Australian batsmen And the Saurashtra allrounder who was previously seen in whites in the fifth and last Test of the postponed series against England at Edgbaston in July last year took only one firstclass game to get into the groove after recovering from his knee surgery when he turned up for Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy league match at Chennai against Tamil Nadu prior to this TestRanji comebackHe grabbed one wicket in his first stint with the ball on his comeback trail and then reeled in seven more in the second innings at the Chidambaram Stadium to show he was ready for the big time again And he was indeed back with a bang in international cricket with a brilliant display of orthodox leftarm spin bowling to bamboozle the visitors09No of fifers Indiarsquos Ravindra Jadeja has taken in 61 Tests