‘I need to play till last ball,’ Ravindra Jadeja’s self-promise after Virat Kohli’s dismissal against West Indies in Cuttack

India vs West Indies 3rd ODI: India had hit a bump after three quick middle-order wickets had fallen and had Jadeja not stayed till the end, the result may well have been different.

After Virat Kohli fell in the 47th over with India’s score on 286, Ravindra Jadeja made a promise to himself. “I told myself that I need to play till the last ball,” said Jadeja after Sunday’s four-wicket win here to clinch the ODI series against West Indies.

India's Ravindra Jadeja, left, and Shardul Thakur, leave the field after their win in the third one-day international cricket match against West Indies in Cuttack, India, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019. (AP)

In a match where India’s top three got half-centuries, Nicholas Pooran’s 89 was the highest among both teams and where Kieron Pollard made 74, it needs some perspective to give Jadeja’s unbeaten innings of 39 the credit it deserves.

Watch| India beat West Indies l ‘Wanted to play till the end’: Ravindra Jadeja

India had hit a bump after three quick middle-order wickets had fallen and had Jadeja not stayed till the end, the result may well have been different. “Don’t do anything silly, play between mid-off and mid-on, Kohli told me,” said Jadeja.

“Yes, my innings was crucial because it was the decider. When I went in, my aim was to just stay with Virat and rotate the strike.

“When Shardul (Thakur) came in, I told him the wicket was good, the ball was coming on nicely so we were thinking like Virat and I were. And that was, if we play till the last ball and treat every ball on its merit, we will win.”

Jadeja said he thought West Indies’ score of 315/6 was not enough on this wicket. “Especially because dew plays a big role here. The last 10 overs were very tough on the bowlers because it was difficult to grip the ball. Also, the outfield got so fast that if you are a second late to the ball it would go for four. The dew also made the wicket get better so I would say 340 would have been a good score.”

If there was a blip on another fighting performance, it was the catching. India dropped quite a few and Jadeja said it was mystifying for fielding standards to have dropped for a young team. “In the next series (against Sri Lanka next month), we need to concentrate more,” he said.

Jadeja batted in nine of the 15 ODIs he played this year with 77 in a losing cause against New Zealand being the highest. Sunday’s effort was his second highest. He took 12 wickets.

“I didn’t play this year but whenever I got the chance, I needed to prove to myself that I am capable of playing one-day cricket. To no one else but myself,” said the 31-year-old all-rounder after his 159th ODI.

We fought: Pooran

Pooran said 315/5 was a good score though they had aimed for 330. He said Kieron Pollard has been a father figure to him after returning to cricket in 2016, 18 months after a car accident.

“We are good friends and know to complement each other while batting because we played for the same franchise back home (Barbados Tridents). Polly today was stronger to the spinners so we allowed him to attack Kuldeep (Yadav) and I would try and play more shots to the pacers,” said Pooran.

Despite the defeats in the T20I and ODI series, West Indies would take positives from this tour. “We are definitely rebuilding. India is one of the strongest teams in the world and they proved that again today. But we came here and we showed fight, we could have won both series. The series also showed we are fighting and that there are better things to come. We are taking it match by match, day by day and eventually we will get to where we want to get,” said Pooran.