Ravindra Jadeja simplifies Bazball: ‘They connect sometimes, sometimes not’, he also has a anti-sweep plan | Cricket News

‘Keep things simple’, has always been Ravindra Jadeja’s mantra and he reiterated it as the way ahead for Indian bowlers to counter England’s attacking style of play. Interestingly, he would talk about how it “took some time to get used to England’s attacking but once you get used to it, it becomes easier”. But his overall plan is to return to the “simple” basics, and not try to change too much.
“England has an aggressive style. In the past, it wasn’t easy for other teams that come here and play in these conditions. England have a style of playing aggressively. They connect sometimes, sometimes not. But that’s their style. We have to think about our plan B. What’s our field? We have to stick. Unko khila khila ke run nahi bananey-dena hai (we can’t feed them balls to pile up the runs,)” Jadeja said on eve of the third Test against England in Rajkot.
England have swept the Indian spinners with the whole bunch of sweep shots – the conventional, reverse, switch, the lap, the paddle scoop. The Indian spinners haven’t been allowed to settle into a line or length, but Jadeja reiterated that the way ahead is not to chase England’s style and feed them, but play to one’s own strengths.
“When they are playing those shots, you can start thinking ‘oh where should I bowl. They are sweeping … but in my opinion it’s to keep simple, not change much.”
He set it up with an example too. A question was asked about his dismissal of Jonny Bairstow, bowled shouldering arms to an armer in the first Test. Was it an elaborate set-up? Jadeja has always de-intellectualised his bowling and it wasn’t a surprise to talk about the sequence in the way he did.
“I wasn’t looking to do anything different. One turned, one came in. That’s my plan. To bowl there. Keep it simple.” It’s not a devaluing of one’s art, but probably a great self-awareness at work. The natural variation is as much a part of his armour as all the other tricks he uses: the rounder-arm, the under-cutter, the armer, the quicker ball, the slower one, and the change of angles at release. He doesn’t like to talk about all that, of course.
For the past couple of days Rahul Dravid has been spending time at the centre square, with the curators. Jadeja had his say on the pitch.
“It looks hard.I think it will play well at the start and probably slowly start to break much later.” So, good for batting initially and a toss that both teams hope to win. Rajkot’s past doesn’t help much in assessing pitches, Jadeja stressed. “Sometimes you get 36 wickets in 3 games. Sometimes it’s different. It can be very different each time. This one looks hard.”