Jadeja turns back clock to put up spellbinding effort

Over the next 5.5 overs, Narine and Angrish Raguvanshi would nullify the effect of the first-ball wicket as KKR finished the powerplay with 56/1. Narine, in particular, was looking dangerous while Raghuvanshi was happily taking on spinners. It seemed like CSK needed another intervention and Ruturaj Gaikwad turned to Jadeja. His first ball was a length delivery which pitched on middle-and-leg before hitting the pads of Raghvanshi who was looking for a reverse sweep. The umpire’s finger immediately went up.

Four balls later, he drifted one outside off-stump and Narine sliced it up only to be caught by Maheesh Theekshana. The danger man was back in the pavilion as KKR lost two wickets in an over. CSK was back in the game as Jadeja had played his second act. Over the next seven overs, with Maheesh Theekshana and Rachin Ravindra for company, Jadeja tightened the screws. Between overs 6-13, they hit just two boundaries and 25 runs. By the time Jadeja was done, he had also dismissed Venkatesh Iyer, finishing with 3/18 in his four overs.

It was no surprise that Jadeja nailed his role to perfection at Chepauk. He has always been capable of that. What stood out with the spell was that he was up against Indian batters, including Shreyas, who can hit spin at will. That the KKR batter could only manage a run-a-ball ten against Jadeja summed up how efficient Jadeja was with the ball. “There was slow turn, after pitching on the surface, the ball wasn’t coming at all and it comes difficult,” the CSK all-rounder would say later as KKR managed only 137/9 in 20 overs.

Perhaps the most pleasing thing about Jadeja’s performance against KKR was that he needed it more than his team. Until Monday, Jadeja had just one wicket in four matches for 105 runs. His team was in trouble, the runs were not coming, neither were the wickets. When it looked like they might go into a slump, Jadeja put up his hand and said not today.