MUMBAI: Two left-handers, both hailing from Gujarat — Parthiv Patel and Ravindra Jadeja utilised their chances and made impressive returns to the Indian cricket team following the recent spate of injuries to some key players.
The story of Patel and Jadeja, the former recalled in the ODI team in the West Indies and the latter in England, is unfolding on parallel lines as both have followed an almost similar pattern.
Both have been a vital cog of the team ever since their comeback, after having failed to seal a berth in the World Cup side.
Patel was recalled into the side as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, after a lengthy IPL preceded by the six-week long ICC World Cup sought rest.
He was made to open the innings in the West Indies in the absence of regular openers — Sachin Tendulkar, who was rested, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag (both injured).
Following that tour, Patel has scored 231 runs in eight innings, inclusive of five ODIs in England where a majority of the Indian batsmen had struggled and his highest score was 95.
While the scores may not be that big, it were the starts he provided with fellow West Zone opener Ajinkya Rahane on most of the occasions that helped India set challenging totals in England.
Meanwhile, ever since he made his comeback in the third ODI at the Oval in England, replacing an injured Rohit Sharma, Jadeja has scored 131 runs at an average of 43.67 and taken nine wickets at 29.66 in six matches.
In fact, in the first match he played in the series, Jadeja scored his personal best of 78 after India were reeling at 58/5 at one stage to provide some respectability to the total.
The 22-year-old Saurashtra player with his handy left-arm spin has ensured that Dhoni does not face much difficulty choosing his fifth bowler, something the skipper has been battling to do ever since Yuvraj Singh was out of the side due to injuries.
“Jadeja has realised he cannot take it lightly. The way he was left out he should make the most of his chances. He is a useful batsman and a good fielder,” said former India coach Anshuman Gaikwad. (PTI)