Ravindra Jadeja flouted the new BCCI standard operating procedures (SoPs) on the second day of the second Test against England in Birmingham. After the Australia tour, the BCCI decreed that no player would move to or from the ground on their own, that they will all move together on the team bus. Jadeja didn't do that on Thursday.
But don't expect any sanctions. Because Jadeja broke the SoPs to come in early so that he could hit a few extra balls before resuming his innings. He knew India had collapsed twice in Leeds, and this time he had done half the job of rescuing India from 211 for 5 on a flat pitch. There was no way India could afford to be dismissed on a below-par score again.
Jadeja resumed on 41, his partnership with Shubman Gill was 99, but the new-ball threat was around. "Somewhere I felt that I should go and bat extra because the ball was still new," Jadeja said. "I felt if I can see the new ball off, it would become easy for the rest of the innings. Luckily I could bat till lunch, and then Washy [Washington Sundar] also batted well with Shubman. The more you bat in England, the better it is because you never feel you are set in England. At any time a ball can swing and take your edge or bowl you."
Jadeja had a chance to unfurl his sword celebration when reaching fifty but got a rare snorter from Josh Tongue to be dismissed on 89. He added 203 runs with Gill to help India go past 500.
"When you contribute with the bat for the team, it feels great, when you are playing outside India, and the team needs you more, it feels good," Jadeja said. "From 210 for 5, to put together a big partnership to take the team forward, it is a challenge. I took it as a challenge. If you can stick around with the captain and put together a big partnership, it gives you confidence as a cricketer and a batter that in the coming matches also you can contribute."
Jadeja never fails to get under the skin of England. His habit of playing a front-foot shot and running straight down the pitch irked England captain Ben Stokes, who kept remonstrating with the umpires even after Jadeja became fully conscious of staying off the danger area.
"He felt I was [creating a] rough for myself," Jadeja said. "The fast bowlers were doing it anyway. I don't need to do that. He was repeatedly telling the umpire that I am running on the wicket. I had no such intention. It might have happened once or twice by mistake, but I didn't mean to."
Even though India took three wickets with the new ball, this does seem like a pitch that could do with some rough. Jadeja said bowling would take a lot of discipline and in-out fields because the ball was not moving off the straight. He said India were not looking in terms of the final result from the match, but just looking to bowl with similar energy on day three.