‘One of the saddest days’ – Ravindra Jadeja reminisces 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand

Exactly a year ago, Ravindra Jadeja, the Indian all-rounder, was in the middle, trying to drag his team out of a precarious position. During the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at the Old Trafford in Manchester, the odds were stacked against India when Jadeja came into bat at number eight. The Men in Blue, at that point in time, were tottering at six for 92 after 30.3 overs.

A target of 240 isn’t daunting by any stretch of the imagination. But the Black Caps’ bowlers had made sure than India had to work out of their skins to get those runs. Jadeja came in when Hardik Pandya threw his wicket away to left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner while going for a wild heave across the line. However, Jadeja had the experienced MS Dhoni as his partner at the other end.

Ravindra Jadeja trying his heart out

Jadeja was the more attacking of the two and went for the big shots to keep the required rate in control. He brought up his fifty of 39 balls, keeping India, well and truly in the game. By the end of the 48th over, he had already stitched together a stand of 116 runs along with Dhoni. But in the end, he fell prey to Trent Boult, who had gotten rid of Virat Kohli in the third over of the run-chase.

Jadeja managed 77 off 59 balls with four fours and as many sixes. However, when he got out, India still needed 32 runs off the last 13 deliveries. In the very next over, Martin Guptill’s stupendous direct-hit caught Dhoni short at the striker’s end and dashed India’s hopes of a comeback. In the end, the Kiwis won the game by 18 runs and set up the finals clash against hosts England.

Matt Henry became the Player of the Match for dismissing KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik. Skipper Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor contributed with 67 and 74 runs respectively. In the meantime, Jadeja went down the memory lane and reminisced the epic clash.

He took to Twitter and wrote, “We try our best but still fall short sometimes. One of the saddest days! #oneyearagotoday.”

Here’s Jadeja’s tweet: –

We try our best but still fall short sometimes 😔
One of the saddest days! #oneyearagotoday pic.twitter.com/1U3N3VYyYj

— Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) July 10, 2020