“I am thinking more as a proper batsman” - Ravindra Jadeja credits Gautam Gambhir

Ravindra Jadeja, who was adjudged as the player of the series against the West Indies, has credited the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir for promoting him to No.6 and making him think of himself more as a proper batter.

Interestingly, Jadeja started off the two-match Test series with a player-of-the-match performance in Ahmedabad. While he scored a 104-run knock in the first Test, he scalped a total of eight wickets across two games.

"I think we know what brand of cricket we've been playing over the last five, six months. So, that's a good sign as a team, that we continue to do it over a long period of time," Jadeja said during the post-match presentation ceremony. 

"As Gauti bhai (Gambhir) said, I am at number six now. So I am thinking more as a proper batsman, and that works for me. In the past, for many years, I've been batting at number eight, number nine, so my mindset was a little different from what I have now," he added.

"we've been doing wonderful work as a team, in terms of batting and bowling. I am just trying to spend more time in the middle whenever I get a chance to bat. To be honest, I don't think too much about records. I just focus on contributing with both bat and ball to help my team win. I always look forward to do that. I feel if I don't perform with bat and ball, then it doesn't reflect my value as a player," he observed.

Delving into the details of the second Test, India posted a dominating total of 518/5 in 134.2 overs. In response, the West Indies got bundled out for 248 runs in 81.5 overs. Following on, WI batters had put up an exceptional effort, scoring 390 runs in 118.5 overs. In the chase, India lost three wickets, scoring off 124 runs in 35.2 overs.

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