Mumbai: Seasoned left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja played down the hara-kiri committed by the Indian team in the last 10 minutes of play on the first day and said one or two players committing mistakes was part and parcel of team atmosphere.
After bowling out New Zealand for 235 soon after the tea break on the first day thanks to Jadeja’s 14th five-wicket haul and four wickets by Washington Sundar, India looked in a strong position as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill added fifty runs for the second wicket to take India to 79/1. With 3-4 overs to go for the day, Jaiswal had a brain fade and played a reverse sweep against Ajaz Patel and got bowled for 30.
The Indian team management sent Mohd Siraj as a nightwatchman and he departed for a golden ball duck, making it two wickets in two balls for Patel. Virat Kohli then ran himself out as India lost three quick wickets and were struggling at 86/4 at the end of the first day.
Asked what was going through their mind as things went haywire in the middle, Jadeja said there was not enough time to react.
“Everything happened in 10 minutes, but it happens. It’s a team game, we can’t blame anyone. Someone or another keeps making small mistakes. But the batters who are still to bat will have to put together small partnerships tomorrow morning so that we can score close to 230 or more than 230. That is the only option for us because then only the second innings will come into play. So I think it will be good if all the batsmen who are coming to bat tomorrow, contribute a little to the score,” he said.
The seasoned campaigner from Saurashtra said the team will have to take collective responsibility for their failure in the Test series against New Zealand. Jadeja has been an integral part as India went unbeaten in 18 series at home in the past 12 years before this series.
“As players, we never have any talk in the dressing room about pointing out to each other what we did wrong. When we win, we lift the trophy together. Now that we have lost the series, all 15 in the team will take the blame collectively,” he said.
But Jadeja also noted that India are trailing New Zealand 0-2 in the three-match Test series because they did not bat well in the first innings in both the previous Tests.
“If we talk about this Test series, then we did not play as well as we should have in the first innings of both matches. From there on, we have been lagging in the game (India got all out for 46 in the first innings in the first match and scored 156 in the first innings in the second). So it looks like the same here. We made mistakes in the first Test and made the same mistakes in the second, so I think from there we were lagging,” he added.
Asked whether the batters have been under pressure coming into the Wankhede Test after they failed in the first two Tests, Jadeja said the pressure is always there.
“Pressure is always there. It is not that when the top-order does not perform then there is pressure on the lower-order. When the top-order performs then there is pressure on the lower order as to why they are not batting well. So I think when you are playing for India then you can never relax. You have to improve your game. I think whether you are ahead in the series or trailing, if everyone contributes a little bit in the team game, then the team always remains in a good position and the result is also positive,” Jadeja said.
–IANS