Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023: Ravi Shastri gets into soup over '3D cricketer' discussion

Former India cricketer, Ravi Shastri, got himself into a rather uncomfortable position when the fellow commentator and former Australia cricketer, Matthew Hayden, raised the "Three-dimensional cricketer" topic, in an attempt on heaping praises on India's all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja.

Day 2 of the opening Test which was played on February 10, 2023 saw Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel combine forces with scintillating fifties which propelled India’s lead to 144 runs to put them in a strong position at Stumps in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.

Still figuring what it means: Ravi Shastri makes light of the situation in diplomatic fashion

Ravindra Jadeja was a sight to behold in the first two days of the opening Test. While he completely bamboozled the Australian batters in the first innings, with the bat he steadied India's ship by scoring some very important runs for the team and continued to extend the lead.

Massively impressed by Jadeja's all-round performance, Matthew Hayden couldn't help but heap praises on the 34-year-old, and in the process went on to term the all-rounder as a "three-dimensional cricketer". Seated next to him, fellow commentator and Indian cricketer, Dinesh Karthik, was quick to remark,"Three-dimensional cricketers are a very sensitive topic in this part of the world, I must say." This was a subtle reminder to the debate around Vijay Shankar's selection for the 2019 World Cup, ahead of Ambati Rayudu, with the then chief selector, MSK Prasad, hailing the all-rounder as a ‘3D cricketer’. 

This intrigued Hayden a lot, who further questioned, "Come on now, don't keep the suspense any longer." Karthik decided to make light of the situation and put the onus on Ravi Shastri, "May be Ravi bhai can enlighten you on that,” as he burst into a laughter. Hayden continued, "I don't think I have ever witnessed Ravi Shastri backing down from a challenge. What is it big fella?"

Now it was upon Ravi Shastri to deal with this rather sticky situation in a very mature way, which he did. Known for his polished way of talking, the 60-year-old was quick to respond,"Nice when a player was picked some time ago and one of the selectors mentioned that he was a three-dimensional cricketer. I'm still trying to figure out what that means."

Hayden was deeply impressed by Shastri's diplomatic dodge, so he shifted the discussion to the current scenario and referring to Ravindra Jadeja stated that he was a perfect all-rounder any team would want to have in their side.

“What I meant, just for clarity is, a really terrific fielder, decent with bat and can bowl.”

Meanwhile, India have gained a huge lead of 223 runs in the ongoing Test. Only time will tell if Australia can still bounce back and save this Test match.

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