Ravindra Jadeja's grand gesture for wife Rivaba during India vs England 3rd Test days after father's allegations

Days before the India vs England third Test began, Ravindra Jadeja had publicly defended his wife Rivaba hours after his father's allegations.

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja dedicated his Player of the Match award for the third Test against England to his wife, Rivaba. This heartwarming gesture from Jadeja comes days after his father, Anirudhsinh alleged that the cricketer started behaving differently with his family after his marriage. Jadeja had an outstanding outing at his hometown in Rajkot to steer India to a massive 434-run win at the newly-named Niranjan Shah Stadium. The victory gave India a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. This was Team India's second convincing win after starting with a shock defeat in the series opener in Hyderabad.

Ravindra Jadeja and his wife Rivaba

"This is a special Man of the Match at my home ground. I would like to dedicate this award to my wife. She has been working hard behind the scenes, mentally. She always gives me confidence," Jadeja said in a video posted by BCCI.

Days before the third Test began, Jadeja had publicly defended his wife Rivaba hours after his father's allegations. "The things mentioned in the dubious interview with Divya Bhaskar are meaningless and false. Those are one-sided comments that I deny them. The attempt to tarnish the image of my wife is improper and condemnable. I too have a lot to say but it is better that I don't reveal those things in public," Jadeja had said on X (formerly Twitter).

Jadeja's stellar show with bat and bowl in Rajkot

Coming in to bat at 33/3, Jadeja stitched a record double-century partnership with captain Rohit Sharma (131) to not only bail India out of trouble but also put them in a position of strength. Jadeja also put together another good partnership Sarfaraz Khan. The left-hander ended up with 112. This was his fourth Test century. India scored 445 in their first innings. Jadeja got two wickets with the ball in England's first innings including that of Ben Stokes.

In England's second innings, Jadeja was simply unplayable, picking up 5/41 to help India skittle England out for 122.

"It is a special feeling to take a 5-wicket haul in the second innings. And that too, a hundred and a 5-wicket haul in the same Test is special," he added.

The importance of Jadeja and Rohit's knocks in the first innings was highlighted by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who smashed 214 in the second innings.

"The way Rohit bhai and Jaddu bhai played in the first innings, motivated me a lot. Because the passion was there, the talk was there, they were determined to play session by session and when I was inside [the dressing room] I kept thinking that when I go there I have to make it count," Jaiswal said as quoted from ICC.

"The way they were talking about the game, the way they motivated us, I think it's incredible to see them putting a lot of effort," Jaiswal added.