Kedar Jadhav is turning out to be the man with the ‘golden arm’ in the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni throwing the ball to him ahead of the regular spinners – Amit Mishra and Axar Patel.
Jadhav was included in the ODI squad as a batsman but his gentle off-spin has done wonders and he has sensibly played the job of the fifth bowler.
Heading into Sunday’s game(third ODI), when a partnership appeared to be developing between Latham and Kane Williamson, who seemed well on course to put up a big stand. India needed wickets at the stage, and Dhoni, in his aim to change things a bit, introduced the off-spin of Kedar Jadhav in the eleventh over.
Scott Styris was on air alongside Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri when Jadhav was brought into the attack. Jadhav has been a pain in the neck for New Zealand in this series, and Styris did not seem to be an enthusiast of Jadhav’s bowling skills. Styris made a remark when he saw Jadhav come into bowl. He said, “I will walk out of the commentary box, and take the first flight to New Zealand if Jadhav takes a wicket today.”
Kedar Jadhav is fast turning out to be an invaluable find for MS Dhoni in the ongoing series. picking up three wickets in the first two games. With only 1 First Class wicket under his name before this series, Jadhav was not really known for his bowling exploits, but more for his batting and wicket-keeping skills. His wickets had been a rather unexpected boon for India in the series, but it wasn’t something that cricket experts expected to happen too often.
Styris was half-expecting Jadhav to take another wicket. As it turned out, in only last ball of his second over, Jadhav beat a premeditated sweep from Williamson with a delivery that went straight after pitching and trapped him LBW. Jadhav had taken a wicket, much to the vexation of Styris.
Most would have expected Styris to eat his words and praise Jadhav, but the former New Zealand all-rounder stuck to what he said, and in a rather funny manner, walked out of the commentary box, leaving Shastri and Gavaskar in splits.
Here’s the video of Styris leaving the commentary box:
True to his word (well not entirely), when the new batsman walked in, “Styris stepped out of the box with a “It’s been a pleasure gentlemen“. He would return for another stint when Jadhav added the wickets of Latham and Corey Anderson. Banter all around..