‘I leave my ego in the hotel room’: Ravindra Jadeja stars in RR’s big win over LSG

Representing Rajasthan Royals, Ravindra Jadeja has not always bowled his full quota of overs due to various factors this IPL season, but the veteran all-rounder has no qualms about it, saying he “leaves his ego in the hotel room before coming to the ground.”

Jadeja delivered an all-round performance to help his side secure a convincing 40-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL clash on Wednesday.

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Jadeja: ‘I leave my ego in hotel room’

On not being able to finish his quota of overs in a couple of games previously, Jadeja told JioHotstar, “When I come to the ground, I leave my personal ego in the hotel room. I just think about contributing in whatever way the team wants from me.

“When it comes to batting, I wanted to take it deep in this game, because if I had gotten out in the 17th or 18th over playing a wrong shot, we wouldn’t have reached 159 and might have fallen 20-25 runs short.”

Crucial all-round performance powers RR

Jadeja made 43 off 29 balls and then picked up one wicket for 29 runs in four overs to play a big part in the victory.

“Chasing a smaller target might then have been easier for LSG. In T20 cricket, every surface, condition, and match situation is different, so you have to adapt accordingly.

“If, on a given day, the team feels that I have a negative match-up against a particular batter, I understand that. It might work, or it might not; that’s part of the game.“

Patient knock on a challenging Ekana surface

Jadeja remained unbeaten after giving his team’s total a semblance of respectability, having played the waiting game with the LSG pacers making good use of the surface at the Ekana Stadium.

Jadeja explains his batting approach

Elaborating on his batting approach, Jadeja said, “When I was batting, it wasn’t that easy. LSG have quality fast bowlers, who were bowling with pace and in good areas. It was a red-soil surface, so there was bounce, and they were getting the ball to seam.

“We kept losing wickets and couldn’t build any partnerships. So, Donovan and I spoke about taking the innings deep. But in T20 cricket, you have to keep taking risks here and there to get to a good score. Unfortunately, he got out at the wrong time.

“I was just calculating the overs and was aware that Mayank Yadav might bowl the final over. I just wanted to use his pace, with a short leg-side boundary and mid-off and mid-on both up.

“Three of the deliveries were short, and he played a bluff by bowling one full, but luckily, I was able to score a boundary off that as well. We got those 20 runs, and as a team, you gain confidence when your bowlers have a few extra runs to play with.”

This was LSG’s fourth consecutive defeat as Rajasthan Royals returned to winning ways.

Jadeja reveals bowling strategy on slow pitch

On bowling slow on that Lucknow surface, Jadeja said, “When I was batting against Digvesh Rathi, a few of his deliveries were stopping in the wicket. So, I thought that if I bowled slow on this surface, I might get some purchase as well.

“I didn’t want to give any pace to either Mitch Marsh or Pooran, because they are big hitters and are known to hit big. So, I bowled slower, but I also wanted to vary my pace, as I didn’t want to be predictable.”