Kedar Jadhav’s performances with the ball have been the most surprising aspect of the ODI series between India and New Zealand. Picked in the side for his batting, Jadhav has picked up six wickets in four matches so far.
Speaking at the press conference ahead of the final ODI in Visakhapatnam, the Maharashtra cricketer revealed that he was bowling with the mindset of a specialist bowler, despite having limited experience in that aspect.
“It’s all about taking responsibility and accepting the challenge that comes at you and then, coming out of the challenge successfully,” said Jadhav.
“Here, you need to contribute if the captain is asking you to bowl (some) overs. You don’t have to bowl (just) as a part-time bowler. You need to take the responsibility with the ball or bat.”
Jadhav, who had just one List A wicket before the start of this ODI series, is also a part-time wicket-keeper. He kept in a number of matches when he was part of the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL and was present behind the stumps in a couple of games for Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier this year.
The 31-year-old, despite being a batsman by trade, says he is ready to take up any responsibility for the team.
“I guess when you play for India, you have to contribute in every possible. While playing in the IPL, I do that with wicket-keeping,” he said.
In the fourth ODI at Ranchi, India looked to be in a good situation before a middle-order collapse saw them go from 98/1 to 167/7, while chasing a target of 261.
Pandey and Jadhav, who are quite inexperienced at the international level, were dismissed off successive deliveries, which proved to be too much for India to recover from.
“Obviously, the opportunity has been missed, especially in the last game. But it’s still early stages for Manish (Pandey) and me. We need to grab whatever opportunity is thrown at us. We need to learn quickly from the opportunities we have missed. That’s what international cricket is all about – delivering when it matters most to the team,” said Jadhav.
There is a general notion going around that the Indian ODI team is too dependent on Virat Kohli at this moment. Whenever Kohli has scored 50+ and stayed unbeaten until the end, India have won. When Kohli has been dismissed, India have lost.
Jadhav, though, feels that India are not overdependent on the Indian Test captain and have a lot of high-class batsmen in the team that can step up.
“Virat is a great player and it’s always nice if he scores. It makes life easy for the batsmen coming next to get whatever runs (possible). But it’s not like that (we’re overdependent on him). We have too many quality batsmen in the team and we need to deliver whenever we get the opportunity,” he added.
With the series tied at 2-2, India and New Zealand will face off in the decider at Visakhapatnam on Saturday.