Ravindra Jadeja today has scored 17 runs for India and 5 runs for New Zealand. Yes you read that right! And no, he has not switched team.
When Rahane was dismissed on day 2 of the ongoing last test match between India and New Zealand after a fantastic knock of 188 runs, Jadeja joined Rohit Sharma who was looking set in the middle. The clear message from captain Kohli to the pair was to play their shots and take the score beyond 550 runs as soon as possible.
Jadeja seemed to do his job fine and was rotating the strike. Then on the 5th ball of the 167th over from kiwi pacer Trent Boult, Jadeja tried to take a quick single and ended up running in the danger area.
It was the second time that he did this. He had already received a warning from Umpire Bruce Oxenford for the same mistake and had asked him to not run in the danger area and damage the pitch.
This time he didn’t give a second thought and penalized Jadeja immediately for the action which cost India 5 runs which were added to New Zealand’s score. So New Zealand started the second innings with 5 runs on the scorecard without even facing a ball thanks to Jadeja.
Jadeja scored 17 runs off 27 balls before the innings was declared at 557 runs. He of course didn’t look happy but the decision of the umpire was correct.
This was not the first time that Jadeja was warned for running in the danger area. In the second test also he had received warning from umpire for getting into the restricted zone while bowling.
Interestingly, a batsman can do this and get away at the cost of 5 runs. He would not get even out. But if the same thing is done by a bowler, he can be banned from bowling in the rest of the inning.
Doesn’t seem fair, does it?
