Ravindra Jadeja on Sunday shared a controversial tweet of a fan criticising Virender Sehwag for overlooking the all-rounder’s performance against South Africa in the first Test.
India defeated South Africa comfortably by 203 runs in the first Test of the three-match series in Vizag on Sunday after an all-round effort from the hosts which saw both the bowlers and the batsmen rise to the occasion. Rohit Sharma slammed back-to-back hundreds to shine on his debut as Test opener while Mayank Agarwal notched up his maiden double century. Ravichandran Ashwin returned with eight wickets from the game and was impressive on his return in whites.
Chasing a hefty target of 395 runs in the fourth innings of the Vizag Test, South Africa suffered a massive batting collapse and were bundled out for 191 as the Indian bowlers dominated the proceedings. Mohammed Shami was the destructor-in-chief for the Virat Kohli-led side, picking up a five-wicket haul to finish with brilliant figures of 5/35 while all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also chipped in with crucial wickets to end the innings with a four-wicket haul.
Following the team’s convincing victory against the Proteas, Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to congratulate the team’s performance and picked out a few standout performers for praise. Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was one of the rare ones who failed to find a mention in former Indian opener’s congratulatory tweet for the Indian team. Jadeja on Sunday retweeted a controversial tweet from a fan criticising Sehwag for not mentioning the all-rounder in his post.
“Fantastic test match for @ImRo45, a dream beginning to opening the batting in Test cricket. Wish him the very best. That was a convincing win for India with some great contributions from Mayank, Shami, Ashwin, Pujara,” Sehwag had tweeted.
Fantastic test match for @ImRo45 , a dream beginning to opening the batting in Test cricket. Wish him the very best. That was a convincing win for India with some great contributions from Mayank, Shami, Ashwin , Pujara . #IndvSA
Jadeja removed openers Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar to break the backbone of South Africa’s top-order before dismissing Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj. He was at his usual best with his sharp reflexes in the field continuously troubling the opposition batsmen with his sharp presence. He also scored 70 runs in two innings with the bat. The act didn’t go down well with Jadeja who retweeted a controversial tweet from a fan criticising Sehwag for not mentioning the all-rounder in his post.
Replying to Sehwag, a Twitter user blamed him for overlooking Jadeja’s fine performance. “@virendersehwag kya aapke TV me @imjadeja ki #batting, #bowling aur #fielding ka performance nahi dikha??? Ya phir so gaye the???(Virender Sehwag didn’t your TV show Ravindra Jadeja’s performance with the bat, ball and on the field? Or were you sleeping?)” the fan commented. Surprisingly thought, the fan’s comment was retweeted by Jadeja from his official Twitter handle.
Jadeja’s cryptic tweet cited mixed reactions from fans on Twitter. While some criticised him for courting controversy saying that Sehwag probably just forgot to mention his name, others backed him and praised his performance in the Test match in Visakhapatnam. It is not the first time Jadeja has taken a dig at a former Indian cricketer on Twitter as he earlier slammed Sanjay Manjrekar after the cricketer turned commentator had called him a ‘bits and pieces’ cricketer during the 2019 World Cup.
