Kedar Jadhav, Indian cricket team’s ‘golden arm’, strikes again

Kedar Jadhav has provided breakthrough to the Indian cricket team on many occasions and his wicket-taking off-spin has made him the team’s ‘golden arm’.

In cricket, the term ‘golden arm’ is referred to a bowler who breaks vital partnerships and chips in with wickets at crucial stages. In Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team, that role has been taken up by Kedar Jadhav. (India vs Australia 4th ODI blog | Scores)

Kedar Jadhav picked up the important wicket of David Warner on Thursday during the 4th India vs Australia ODI. (AP)

Jadhav, who has struggled for consistency with the bat since the England series, has been Kohli’s trump card with the ball. His ability to break big partnerships and dent the momentum of the opposition has been phenomenal. The off-spinner’s ability came to the fore again during the fourth ODI against Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.

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Australia were given a great start with David Warner (124) slamming his first ODI century in India. With Aaron Finch (94), he had stitched together a record 231-run opening stand, the best for Australia in ODIs versus India. With both batsmen going strong, Australia looked good for a 350-plus score, but Kedar Jadhav struck.

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Not the first time

Jadhav’s ability to break partnerships and tilt the game towards India is nothing new. During the second ODI against New Zealand in Delhi, Tom Latham and Kane Williamson stitched a 120-run stand for the second wicket, but Jadhav broke the stand in his first over by trapping Latham leg before for 46.

In the Dharamsala ODI, New Zealand’s top-order gifted wickets to Jadhav as they collapsed from 153/2 to 169/6, with the off-spinner taking the wickets of Latham, Kane Williamson and Corey Anderson.

In the Champions Trophy semi-final, Jadhav snapped up Tamim Iqbal (70) and Mushfiqur Rahim (61) to jolt Bangladesh.

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Following his haul against Bangladesh, Kohli said Jadhav was a smart bowler. “He knows where the batsmen get into trouble, and if you can think like a batter when you’re bowling, it’s obviously a bit of an advantage,” Kohli said. His further success against Sri Lanka, where he picked up three wickets in five games, only added to his shock value.

For all his exploits, Jadhav indeed is the Midas in Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team.