World Cup 2019: Sanjay Manjrekar backtracks about his comments on Ravindra Jadeja

It was a thriller of a semi-final between New Zealand and India and one of the best you’ll see in a long, long time. In the end, it was New Zealand who held onto their nerves in the clinch situations and got over the line. While it was disappointing to see the ‘Men in Blue’ bow out this way, the way Ravindra Jadeja played and fought back was extremely heartening.

India was reeling at 92/6 at one stage and Hardik Pandya was just walking back to the pavilion. It seemed as if there is no chance that Virat Kohli and his men would get over the line from here. But, one man kept faith in his ability. Ravindra Jadeja, with one of the coolest heads – MS Dhoni, at the other end, played an unbelievable knock.

He took the attack to the bowlers and cleared the fence regularly. Jadeja dominated so much so that MS Dhoni had to play the second fiddle. The wicket-keeper batsman seemed happy about just taking the singles and giving the all-rounder the strike. With his unbelievable effort, the 30-year-old completely shifted the pressure back on to New Zealand.

He scored 77 runs off only 59 deliveries – hit four fours and four sixes. But he got out to Trent Boult in the 48th over of the game while trying to play a lofted shot. After he fell, MS Dhoni was dismissed in the form of a run-out which put curtains to India’s campaign as they lost the match by 18 runs.

Well played Jadeja says Sanjay Manjrekar

Earlier in the game, Ravindra Jadeja did a fine job with the ball as well. In his 10 overs, he conceded 40 runs and picked up one wicket. This performance has come right after the ‘bits and pieces’ controversy. A few days ago, Sanjay Manjrekar spoke a few harsh words about Jadeja. The cricketer took them quite seriously and responded in a critical manner.

Since then, this controversy has been evolving on and on. But now, the 53-year-old has backtracked on his comments. He applauded Jadeja for his efforts against New Zealand. “Well played Jadeja!” wrote Sanjay Manjrekar in his tweet.