T20 World Cup: The key was to bowl in right areas, says Jadeja
Dubai, Nov 5: India left-parm spinner Ravindra Jadeja revealed that bowling in the right areas was the key for the bowlers in dismissing Scotland for just 85 in their Group 2 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Stadium here on Friday.
He added that he was looking to scalp wickets in the middle overs. India cruised to an eight-wicket win over Scotland with 81 balls to spare, bettering their net run rate than Afghanistan and New Zealand.
"We were looking to bowl in good areas because the oddball was gripping, turning, and spinning. The key was to bowl in the right areas as a spinner or a fast bowler. So, we were bowling in the good areas and rest, the wicket was doing the job," Jadeja said in the post-match press conference.
"My role was the same. Look to take wickets in middle overs and whenever I got an opportunity, try and bowl like how I used to bowl. The plan was simple. Ther' wasn't much of a big change just because we were playing Scotland. It was a simple, basic plan," added Jadeja, who was adjudged 'Player of the Match' for his figures of 3/15 in four overs.
Jadeja mentioned that there was no sense of panic in the dressing room after India suffered defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand in the first two matches of the tournament, adding that the changes in playing ways of both teams was happening due to dew. "There wasn't much panic in the dressing room. All were normal because, in the T20s, one or two matches do not go our way. Here, winning the toss becomes very important as because of dew, the whole game changes. If a team that bats first gets a chance to bat second, then their way of batting completely changes. In my opinion, the dew factor is very big, due to which batting first and batting second teams are looking like playing games poles apart. All these changes in the game are happening due to dew."
"As the matches happened in the tournament, in the first innings, the ball was stopping and gripped a little bit off the surface. In the second innings, dew used to come which used to make the wicket flat, making it really easy for the batters. When we batted in the first innings, we didn't get as great a start as we wanted. When you don't get a good start, it becomes difficult in the middle overs as wickets fall and partnerships aren't stitched. Because of all this, winning the toss and batting second becomes all the more important."
The 32-year-old insisted that India have done well in the past in T20Is and that ups and downs can happen with teams in T20s. "In the last two-three years, we have played very good cricket in the format, whether in or out of India. But we cannot judge ourselves after playing badly in one or two matches. Ups or downs can happen with anyone in one or two T20 matches. Overall, if you pick our records for the last two years, we have done well. It happens in one or two matches. But we won't think much about that as we will take opportunities ahead of us in a positive way and will look to play cricket the way we played today's as well as the last match."