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3 Best Catches Taken By Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja announced his retirement from T20I cricket after playing a crucial role in India's 2nd World Cup win in ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 by defeating South Africa by 7 runs in Bridgetown. Apart from being a handy batsman lower down order, the star Indian all-rounder is an exceptional fielder who helped Men in Blue win in several international matches with his top-class fielding. Through this news piece, we will take a look at Ravindra Jadeja's 3 best catches in international cricket.
Ravindra Jadeja has played a total of 73 Tests, 197 ODIs and 74 T20Is matches in international cricket, where he has managed to score 3036, 2756 and 515 runs, respectively. Before announcing his retirement from the shorter format of the game, he finished with 54 wickets with an efficient economy of 7. Not only that! The star Indian cricketer also holds 4 Hundreds to his name till now in international cricket. But what makes him different from others is his fielding, where he has grabbed 144 wickets while representing Men in Blue from 2009.
Neil Wagner's Catch against New Zealand
On number 1, we have Ravindra Jadeja's catch of Former New Zealand cricketer, Neil Wagner when the Indians were frustrated by the 51-run stand for the 9th wicket between Jamieson and Wagner, all they would have hoped for a wicket, somehow. Then Shami comes in, bowls a bouncer to Wagner, Wagner hooks the ball and it goes flying over Jadeja before he makes a perfect jump to take Blinder. This catch even surprised the batsman as he stood for a few seconds on the crease and looked with awe before departing to the pavilion.
Shane Watson's Catch against Australia 2016
Another incredible catch of Ravindra Jadeja, which was remembered by every cricket fan in the world was the catch of Shane Watson in the T20I game between Australia and India in the 2016 T20I series when Jadeja pulled off a one-handed stunner to dismiss Watson off his bowling.
This catch is regarded as one of the best catches in international cricket because he took the caught-and-bowled dismissal off a well-struck shot, which is difficult as the bowler has to break his follow-through midway, then stick his hand/s out, and finally hope that the ball sticks.
Jason Roy's Catch, 2019 World Cup League match
This catch was taken at a time when the Indian team desperately needed a wicket to break the opening partnership of 160 runs between England's opening batsmen Jason Roy and Johnny Bairstow, who were thrashing Indian bowlers by giving a fiery start to the English team in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2019 at the batting-friendly pitch of Edgbaston.
In the over of Kuldeep Yadav, Jason Roy hit his first bowl for a six-over long-on. But when he tried to repeat that shot, substitute fielder Jadeja ran forward from long-on and dived full length to take a dipping catch just inches from the ground. On giving a decision, the umpires had to go upstairs to confirm whether the catch was clean, but Jadeja's body language told you the story. For a moment, Roy stood rooted to the spot, but eventually began the slow walk back. This catch helped the Indian team to get 2 back to back wickets in a span of 47 runs and put the Indian team back in the game.