"First cherry of the season": Ravindra Jadeja celebrates competitive cricket return
Jan 27, 2023
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 27 : Star Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja made a thumping comeback to competitive cricket with a seven-fer in his side Saurashtra's match against Tamil Nadu and he celebrated it with style.
Taking to the social media site Twitter, Jadeja posted a picture of the match-ball with his bowling figures written on it and it was placed near his sunhat.
"First cherry of the season. #redcherry," said Jadeja's post caption. 
Jadeja announced his comeback from injury with a bang after he scalped seven wickets in the 2nd innings of the ongoing Ranji Trophy fixture against Tamil Nadu on Thursday.
The left-arm spinner ran through the Tamil Nadu batting order in their 2nd innings, scalping 7 wickets while conceding just 53 runs in the 17.1 overs that he bowled. Jadeja only took one wicket in the first innings and was under pressure to do well to be considered for the playing eleven in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series against Australia.
Jadeja claimed the wickets of Sai Sudharsan, Narayan Jagadeesan, M Shahrukh Khan, Baba Aparajith, Baba Indrajith, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Vijay Shankar, Ajith Ram and Manimaran Siddharth.
The star all-rounder, through his spell, demonstrated that he was more than ready and in the groove to be picked in the playing eleven against the Baggy Greens in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Jadeja also scored 15 runs in the first innings of his side.
The national selectors had made his selection to the playing eleven subject to his fitness and physical condition in domestic cricket.
Jadeja had to leave Asia Cup last September to undergo surgery on his right knee. The injury caused him to miss the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, where India bowed out in the semis after a humiliating ten-wicket loss to England.
The selectors named him in the 17-man Test squad for the first half of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which starts in Nagpur on February 9. The second Test of the series will be played in Delhi followed by the final two Tests in Dharamsala and Ahmedabad.
Talking about the Ranji match, Saurashtra is attempting to chase 266 runs. They will have their work cut out for them because it is a difficult pitch. In the first innings, Saurashtra was bowled out for 192 runs. On the final day of the chase, captain Jadeja will be crucial to the outcome.
