New Delhi. Ravindra Jadeja has achieved such an achievement in his career in the Galle Test which has placed him in the ranks of the select great all-rounders of Indian cricket. In the match against Sri Lanka, Jadeja completed 350 wickets in Test cricket and with this he also completed the historic double of scoring more than 4000 runs and taking more than 350 wickets. Jadeja has joined the select few players in the world to achieve this feat and is only the second cricketer from India to make it to this exclusive club. Before him, this feat was achieved by the great all-rounder Kapil Dev.
Jadeja troubled the Sri Lankan batsmen with his spin in the third innings of the Galle Test and took three wickets. As soon as he completed 350 wickets, his name was included in the list of Indian bowlers in Test cricket who have taken 350 or more wickets in this format. Before this, Anil Kumble is India's most successful Test bowler with 619 wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 537 wickets while Kapil Dev has 434 and Harbhajan Singh has 417 Test wickets in his name. Now Jadeja is at fifth position in this prestigious list with 351 wickets.
However, Jadeja's achievements are not limited to just wickets. His consistent contribution with the bat has also been seen in Test cricket. Jadeja has more than 4000 Test runs in his name and that is why the double of more than 4000 runs with more than 350 wickets makes him more special. Apart from Kapil Dev, the players of the world who have reached this figure also include Ian Botham of England and Daniel Vettori of New Zealand. Kapil Dev took 5248 runs and 434 wickets in Tests. Botham has 5200 runs and 383 wickets in his name while Vettori has taken 362 wickets with 4531 runs. Now Jadeja's name has also been added to this club with figures of 4108 runs and 351 wickets.
With this achievement, Jadeja has also strengthened his position in the list of left-arm spinners taking the most wickets in Test cricket. Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath leads the list with 433 wickets. Daniel Vettori has 362 wickets in his name while Jadeja has reached third place with 351 wickets. Now Jadeja needs only 12 more wickets to overtake Vettori. If he achieves this feat, he will reach second place among the left-arm spinners who have taken the most wickets in Test history.
The specialty of Jadeja's bowling is not only the number of wickets but also his ability to take wickets. Jadeja's strike rate is around 58 among left-arm spinners who have taken at least 125 Test wickets. In this matter, Keshav Maharaj of South Africa is ahead of him. This shows that Jadeja has the ability to create pressure in long spells and also take quick wickets when needed.
In the Galle Test, Sri Lanka's first innings ended at 284 runs and India got a lead of 178 runs. Jadeja took three wickets for 57 runs while bowling five maidens in 21 overs. Manav Suthar performed brilliantly and took four wickets. He took four wickets for 76 runs with one maiden in 21.4 overs.
This achievement of Jadeja is also special because he is not just a bowler but an all-rounder who can change the course of the match. His biggest strength has been scoring useful runs with the bat and consistently taking wickets with the ball. Joining this historic club with Kapil Dev is one of the biggest achievements of his Test career. Despite different eras and different bowling styles, Jadeja and Kapil have proved how important an all-rounder who can contribute with both bat and ball for a long time in Test cricket can be for the team.