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'When you come for interview...': Sunil Gavaskar tears into Ravindra Jadeja over India star's tale of no-balls in BGT
Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has slammed Ravindra Jadeja for his repeated no-ball offences in the four-match Test series between India and Australia. Jadeja has bowled as many as eight no-balls in the high-profile Test series.
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is having a dream series in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia. The veteran all-rounder completed a memorable comeback to international cricket after propelling Rohit Sharma’s India to an impressive win over Australia in the series opener at Nagpur. Continuing his sublime run in the 2nd Test at Delhi, the star all-rounder was named the Player of the Match for the second successive time in the high-profile series.
Even though Jadeja has been delivering the goods for India, the veteran spinner found himself at the receiving end on Day 1 of the 3rd Test between the top-ranked teams at Indore. Jadeja had overstepped the crease when the on-song bowler cleaned up Marnus Labuschagne in the 1st innings. India also lost two reviews inside 5 overs courtesy of Jadeja on the opening day of the 3rd Test at Indore.
Sharing his views during a discussion on Star Sports, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar condemned Jadeja for his repeated no-ball offences in the four-match Test series."I want to talk about the no-ball. You cannot make this mistake repeatedly if you are a professional and especially if you are a spinner, you have to bowl from behind the crease," Gavaskar said.
"When you come for an interview in the evening, you say you like to do what is in your control. Not bowling no-balls is in your control, so why is that happening? Who takes the responsibility for that - only the bowler, the bowling coach - whoever it is, it has happened many times in three Test matches," the former Indian skipper added.
Labuschagne lived two lives in the 3rd Test between India and Australia. The premier batter was cleaned up by Jadeja for a duck although he was guilty of bowling a no-ball. The star spinner has bowled as many as eight no-balls in the high-profile Test series. Labuschagne got lucky for the second time as India refused to use Decision Review System (DRS) when Ravichandran Ashwin claimed for a leg-before dismissal in the 11th over.
Besides Gavaskar, legendary Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh also expressed his disappointment over Jadeja after the no-ball infection became a major topic of discussion on the opening day. “You probably don't have eight no-balls in a career. This is not expected from a bowler like Ravindra Jadeja and it becomes a bigger cause for concern if you get a wicket on that. As Sunny bhai said, Labuschagne would have been dismissed for a duck and because of that a commotion would have been created in that dressing room, that you are 10/2, which means if you had picked up two more wickets at that stage, it would have been 25/4,” Harbhajan added.
Leading India's fightback with the ball, Jadeja bagged all four wickets on Day 1 to emerge as the pick of the bowlers for the hosts. Spin wizard Jadeja removed the likes of Travis Head (9), Usman Khawaja (60), Marnus Labuschagne (31) and Steve Smith (26) as Australia lost four wickets while scoring 156 runs in 54 overs on Wednesday. The 34-year-old also became the second Indian player to take 500 wickets and score 5,000 runs in international cricket on Day 1 of the Indore Test.
