Kedar Jadhav credits MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli: The Indian all-rounder spoke highly about the captain and the wicket-keeper batsman.
The episodes of India all-rounder Kedar Jadhav finishing matches for the team are increasing at a brisk rate. The recently-concluded first ODI against Australia at Hyderabad was another such instance when the 33-year old cricketer proved his mettle at the highest level.
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While India were expected to chase a 237-run target without much discomfort, them being reduced to 99-4 spoke of the otherwise. However, it was an unbeaten match-winning 141-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Mahendra Singh Dhoni (59) and Kedar Jadhav (81) which saw India through.
After receiving the ‘Man of the Match’ award, Jadhav was wax lyrical about India wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni and captain Virat Kohli. In awe of both the cricketers, Jadhav termed them as the “Best Chasers” in the game.
“I learn a lot from MS Dhoni”
Speaking during the post-match press conference, Jadhav continued with his appreciation for Dhoni and Kohli. Being asked about involved in a match-winning stand with the former, Jadhav highlighted the fact that Dhoni has it in him to get the best out of every player.
“Every time I bat with him [Dhoni] or spend time with him, I learn a lot. I cannot put it in words. You can see it from the way I am batting. He is that sort of a person that you get confidence from him.
“His aura is such that you see him and you are like ‘I will deliver today’. He has a knack of getting the best out of every player. That is what everybody loves about him,” Jadhav was quoted as saying.
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“Dhoni and Kohli are world-class players”
Other than talking about last night’s game particularly, Jadhav further expressed admiration for the two biggest names in Indian cricket right now. The cricketer from Pune considered the whole bunch of current Indian players lucky to have the pair around.
“Both of them are world-class players. We are lucky to have them here. As a cricketer, you don’t ask for more. If you are batting with them, you are learning everyday about how they bat, how they prepare and how they mentally challenge themselves in every situation.
“Every youngster in the team who is doing well, the credit goes to MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. We, as a team, are trying to get at least 10-15% of their achievements. [If we do that] We will be fine in our careers,” Jadhav said gleefully.
“Melbourne was different”
Having won India a similar match during India’s tour of Australia at Melbourne in January, yesterday was the second time this year when Dhoni and Jadhav stood tall on the expectations by sealing a tense chase.
Being asked to find similarities between both the games, Jadhav mentioned that conditions made both the matches different form each other. That said, he couldn’t stop himself from adding that the presence of Dhoni in such situation helps tremendously.
“Both the games were difficult in their own terms. In Australia, that was my first game on the Australian soil. It was difficult to adjust to the bounce. Like I said, when you have Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni at the non-striker’s end, half the job is already done. They tell you which bowler to target, when to take it deep and which bowler to avoid taking chances against.
“You don’t get those sort of things within yourself unless you’ve played enough to understand. These tips from them help tremendously. I enjoy batting with both of them. They take the youngsters to their wings and make sure that everyone delivers,” Jadhav further said.
