It was a moment to savour for the veteran Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who finally reached the milestone of taking 300 wickets in cricket’s longest format during the fourth day of the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur on Monday.
After reaching the milestone, Jadeja became the seventh Indian bowler to reach the 300-wicket milestone and expressed the moment as one that would remain with him forever.
The other Indian bowlers who have taken 300 Test wickets or more are Anil Kumble (619), R Ashwin (524), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (417), Ishant Sharma (311) and Zaheer Khan (311).
“It’s special when you achieve something for India. I’ve been playing Tests for 10 years and finally, I’ve reached this milestone. I’ve done well and I’m proud of myself, and feeling happy and good,” Jadeja told JioCinema after the fourth day’s play concluded.
A point to note was that Jadeja hit back at his critics during his younger days when many branded him as just a limited overs player but the all-rounder was determined to prove those people wrong and is pleased to see the fruits of his hard earned labour.
“It’s special and will forever remain with me. As a youngster, I started with white-ball cricket and everyone used to tell me that I was a white-ball cricketer. But I worked hard with the red ball and finally, all the hard work has paid off,” said Jadeja.
In addition to the 300-wicket milestone, Jadeja also completed another rare double where he became the second-fastest player to reach 300 Test wickets and also score 3000 runs in the longest format. The record-holder is none other than England’s Ian Botham.
As for the ongoing game, Jadeja hopes that the Indian team can get the remaining eight wickets as soon as possible on the final day and hopefully chase down whatever targets the visitors would set to secure a win to maintain their dominance at the top of the World Test Championship standings.
“As a batter I always try to give myself some time. I react to the ball and score accordingly. Now, it’s time to take the eight wickets and chase the target, hopefully it won’t be a big total,” he added.
(with PTI Inputs)
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