Published: Sep 10, 2018, 03:32 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 10, 2018, 03:32 PM (IST)
England assistant coach Paul Farbrace says his team his happy that Ravindra Jadeja got to play only the fifth Test of the ongoing series against India. Jadeja watched India lose the five-match series 1-3 from the sidelines before being recalled for the final match.
He capped off a memorable return taking 4/79 in England’s first innings and then dig India out of a hole with an unbeaten 86.
Farbrace praised Jadeja’s knock. “It was very frustrating. There was a chance dropped before that last partnership got going but to be fair to Jadeja, he played magnificently well,” Farbrace said. “I think he’s an exceptional cricketer, a dangerous cricketer – with bat, ball and in the field – and I think we would probably be reasonably happy that he’s only just played in that last game.”
He wants England’s leading run-getter in Tests Alastair Cook to finish his Test career with a 33rd century in the format. Cook finished the Day 3 unbeaten on 46 and is aiming to sign off his international career with a century.
“It’d be fantastic, wouldn’t it, if he was to get to a hundred? It’d be absolutely brilliant. I think he’s just enjoying milking all the applause he’s getting. I think it’s just driving him on to bat as long as he possibly can,” he said.
“I think he’s played really well; he’s shown everything that he’s about so far in this game. He’s just got stuck in, and it’s not easy out there, but he looks as though he’s really enjoying the scrap.
“I’d imagine the reception he got when he went out to bat probably moved him it moved everybody else in our dressing-room, the fantastic support he’s had. He just seems to cope with everything that’s in front of him.”
