"He is his bunny" - Ravi Shastri applauds Ravindra Jadeja's dismissal of Steve Smith

Former India player, as well as former India head coach Ravi Shastri, has applauded Ravindra Jadeja for maintaining his upperhand on Steve Smith and dismissing him with a stunning delivery in the World Cup 2023 match between India and Australia as well.

However, Jadeja registered figures of 3/28 in 10 overs, including Smith’s wicket, as India bowled out the Aussies for 199 in Chennai on Sunday, October 8. The hosts then chased down the total with six wickets and 52 balls to spare to begin their campaign on a winning note as well.

While reviewing the game on Star Sports, Shastri said: “Dream dismissal and he has dismissed him 10 to 12 times. He (Smith) is his bunny. It is not that easy to play such a delivery because of the speed at which he bowls. As a batter, you don’t know which ball is going to turn and which ball will go straight.”

Meanwhile, the former Indian all-rounder also added that the left-arm spinner eventually forces batters to second-guess his deliveries as well.

He expressed: “He (Jadeja) himself said in the interview that he doesn’t know which ball will turn and which will go straight. If he doesn’t know, how will the batter know? So he plays inside the line at times and outside the line on other occasions.”

However, Ravi Shastri again shared that Jadeja is extremely difficult to play on spin-friendly surfaces. So far, Jadeja has dismissed Steve Smith 11 times in international cricket. Apart from him, the veteran spin-bowling all-rounder also dismissed Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey to keep them under the pressure.

“If he plays outside, he becomes leg-before and if he plays inside, it hits the stumps, just like it happened with Smith. It’s not easy as he will trouble anyone. If he gets a surface like this, he becomes the most difficult bowler because his every ball does not turn,” he concluded.