Ravindra Jadeja's tussle with top English players is nothing new. Who can forget his infamous feud with the legendary James Anderson during India's tour of England in 2014? It started on Day 2 of the first Test at Trent Bridge and continued till the last Test. Both Jadeja and Anderson were fined but evaded serious sanctions. Anderson is now retired. In fact, his name, along with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar's, now features in the trophy that India and England are currently fighting for. Jadeja is still going strong.
While his current on-field duel with Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes was nowhere near what transpired between him and Jadeja a decade ago, it surely rattled the England team, albeit briefly. Jadeja ruffled the feathers of England captain Ben Stokes and fast bowler Chris Woakes on Day 2 of the second Test at Edgbaston.
During the second over on Thursday, Woakes was not happy with Jadeja for taking a couple of steps and then deciding against taking a run. The England bowler was worried that Jadeja was doing it deliberately to rough up certain areas of the pitch. Umpire Saikat had a quiet word with Jadeja, who obliged by jumping away from the danger area while running for a single in the very next ball.
India vs England Live Score, 2nd Test Day 2
A couple of overs later, Jadeja got to his fifty with a single off Woakes and brought the sword celebration out. His tussle with Woakes, however, was far from over.
{{/usCountry}}A couple of overs later, Jadeja got to his fifty with a single off Woakes and brought the sword celebration out. His tussle with Woakes, however, was far from over.
{{/usCountry}}Jadeja leaves Ben Stokes fuming
At the end of the same over (88th of the Indian innings), Woakes got really angry with Jadeja. He felt the India all-rounder was once again running onto the pitch. This time, England captain Ben Stokes joined the discussion. He too didn't seem pleased. Stokes and Woakes pointed to the area and decided to have a word with Jadeja, who responded by saying that he was away from the danger area.
Stokes was not amused. Just an over before that, he was seen making faces at Jadeja almost to upset the rhythm of the experienced Indian cricketer, who was in the middle of a solid partnership with captain Shubman Gill.
The complaints of Stokes and Woakes against Jadeja did little to disrupt the concentration of the left-hander. Jadeja let his bat do the talking. In the next over, Jadeja hit England captain Ben Stokes for consecutive boundaries, much to the delight of the Indian fans at Edgbaston.
Resuming the day on an unbeaten 41, Jadeja added 48 more runs to his personal score before an awkward bouncer from Josh Tongue brought an abrupt end to his innings. Tongue banged it in short and Jadeja, not expecting the ball to bounce that much, tried to tuck it around the corner for a single. The ball got big on him. It touched his gloves and landed safely into keeper Jamie Smith's hands.
Jaddeja walked back to a rousing reception. His 89-run knock also produced a 203-run partnership with Shubman Gill that took India's total past the 400-run mark.