Australia was attempting to reassemble on a dry
Chennai wicket with the reliable duo of Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in
an effort to blunt the Indian spinners. With Smith approaching the fifty-run
mark and Australia 110/2 at that point, the five-time World Cup champions were
likely aiming for a total of somewhere between 250 and 260.
The ball from Jadeja to Smith was particularly
beautiful, spinning sharply away from the batter to clip the stumps, but in
just a few overs, everything changed for Australia. Labuschagne and Alex Carey
were then taken out by Jadeja in his subsequent over, while Glenn Maxwell and
Cam Green were taken out by Kuldeep and Ashwin, respectively, as Australia slumped
to 140/7.
Speaking at the press conference after the game on
Sunday (October 8), the 34-year-old acknowledged the wicket of Smith was the
turning point that put India in the ascendancy.
“I think that was the turning moment, you know,
when you get a wicket like Steve Smith. From there onwards it was not easy to
just come in and rotate the strike for the new batter,” said Jadeja.
“So I would say that wicket was the turning point… And yeah, it helped
me, because I knew the conditions in Chennai. I’ve been playing here for like
10-11 years, so I know the conditions on this ground. I enjoyed it and whatever
I contribute to the team I always feel happy.”
“When I started the first over, the ball was
stopping after falling a little slow. I thought it was the afternoon, it was
hot and the wicket was dry. I thought a stump-line would be better. From here
some balls would turn, some would go straight so it won’t be easy for the
batsman to line up. This was my plan that I should bowl at the stumps and
luckily the ball to Smith turned a little more. So, my plan was simple. I was
thinking that this is a Test match bowling wicket. I shouldn’t experiment too
much because everything was happening from the wicket. So, I was trying to bowl
it stump to stump,” Jadeja said about his methods.