Chennai, Apr 8 (PTI) Ravindra Jadeja hasn’t yet got a moniker from Chennai Super Kings faithfuls like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is lovingly referred to as ‘Thala’ (leader) or Suresh Raina, better known as ‘Chinna Thala’ (leader’s right-hand man) but India’s No.1 all-format all-rounder feels it’s time that fans give him “verification” (validation).
Jadeja, whose match-winning 3/18 in 4 overs got CSK back on track against KKR, feels that it is never easy for opposition to get going on a Chepauk track, where he has always been more than a handful.
He is now the only player in IPL history with a ‘treble’ — 1000 plus runs, 100 plus wickets and now 100 catches.
“My title hasn’t yet been verified, hopefully they’ll give me one,” the jovial Jadeja said after CSK’s seven-wicket win.
“I always enjoy my bowling on this track. I was hoping the ball grips a little and if you bowl in the right areas it helps you. For visiting teams, it takes time to settle in and plan,” he said as KKR were restricted to a paltry 137 for 9.
“You hardly get 2-3 days, for a visiting team to come here, play and identify the surface is little difficult. We know our conditions better.” KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was in agreement that they didn’t read the track properly.
“We weren’t able to assess the conditions quickly after the powerplay, scoring runs wasn’t easy. They (CSK) know the conditions pretty well, they bowled according to their plans,” Iyer conceded.
On a track like the one that was on offer, a new batter found it extremely difficult to go on the offensive from ball one.
“It wasn’t easy (for the new batters) to go after them from the first ball. We were trying to construct the innings, but it didn’t fall in place according to the plan. The wicket changed after the powerplay.” “We were in a comfortable place and we thought 160-170 was a good score, but we lost momentum.” The India batter feels that there is no reason to panic after one defeat.
“We have to go back to the drawing board and got to learn from that. I am glad this happened at the start of the tournament. When we go back, we know our home conditions pretty well. We need to analyse the situations and need to make the best use of it.” PTI KHS KHS APA APA
