We've been doing wonderful work as a team – Ravindra Jadeja
India completed a comfortable series win against West Indies, eventually finishing the job on Day 5 as KL Rahul stayed unbeaten for a well-orchestrated half-century, playing a major role in the hosts' second Test victory.
Ravindra Jadeja played an instrumental role in both the matches with a significant all-round performance, registering eight wickets and scoring 104 runs across two games. He secured the Player of the Series award for his fine performances as India rode high on his brilliance to complete a couple of clinical wins.
Talking in the post-match presentation, Jadeja opened up on the collective performance that has been knitted by Team India in recent times. He also explained how a change in his batting position and his mindset as a batter under the chaperonage of Gautam Gambhir has been crucial in shaping him up as an even better batter.
Underlining the collective brilliance of the team, Jadeja said, “I could get a chance to bowl more overs (after Ashwin's retirement). But yeah, all in all, we’ve been doing wonderful work as a team, in terms of batting and bowling. 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.”
Underlining the shift in his batting, Jadeja added, “As Gauti bhai (Gambhir) said, I’m at number six now. So I’m 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. I’m just trying to spend more time in the middle whenever I get a chance to bat.”
He concluded by saying, “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 doing that. I feel if I don’t perform with bat and ball, then it doesn’t reflect my value as a player. I’m always keen and give my 100 percent. I think this is my third Man of the Series trophy, so yeah, I’m very happy to bring it back home.”
