Kedar Jadhav Retirement: Top 5 ODI knocks of former batter in winning cause for India

Former India batter Kedar Jadhav finally called the time on his international cricketing career on Monday, June 3. He served India from 2014 to 2020 for six years in 73 ODIs and 9 T20Is before; playing his last international match on February 08, 2020, Jadhav continued to play in the Indian Premier League, representing various franchises, including the likes of CSK, RCB and SRH.

Jadhav also did commentary during the IPL; however, the 39-year-old hung his boots in all forms of cricket in an official announcement on Monday. He enjoyed a good ODI career, scoring 1389 runs in 52 innings of the 73 matches he played, with an average of 42.09, hitting 2 centuries and 6 half-centuries.

Given that, here we’ll have a look at the top 5 knocks played by Kedar Jadhav during his ODI career in a winning cause for India.

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Here’s a look at top-5 ODI knocks of Kedar Jadhav in a winning cause for India:

61* runs off 57 balls vs Australia (2019) – MCG, Melbourne

At the beginning of 2019, Team India, under the captaincy of Virat Kohli was on the tour of Australia for a three-match ODI series. After the series was equalled with the scoreline of 1-1, both teams locked horns in the series decider at the MCG on January 18, 2019.

Australia were bundled out at the score of only 230 runs in 48.4 overs in the first innings. While chasing the target, Kedar Jadhav and former skipper shone for India. Jadhav played a crucial unbeaten knock of 61 runs off 57 balls, hitting 7 fours to take India home by chasing down the target in 49.2 overs, scoring 234 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. He also stitched a match-winning partnership of 111 runs for the fourth wicket with the former skipper MS Dhoni (87 runs off 114 balls).

63 runs off 73 balls vs Sri Lanka (2017) – RPS, Colombo

India and Sri Lanka took on each other in the last and fifth ODI of the five-match series on September 3, 2017, at the RPS in Colombo. The hosts’ skipper Upul Tharanga won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, the Islanders were bowled out at the score of 239 runs in 49.4 overs.

While chasing the target, India had a crumbling start as they lost 2 wickets early at the score of 29 runs in Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. Later after India’s third dismissal at the score of 128 runs, Kedar Jadhav is in the middle to rescue his side, alongside the then-skipper Virat Kohli. Jadhav played a crucial knock of 63 runs off 73 balls, with 7 fours and also stitched a math-defining partnership of 109 runs with skipper Virat Kohli for the fourth wicket. Eventually, India won this match by 6 wickets and clinched the series in a clean sweep by 5-0.

81* runs off 87 balls vs Australia (2019) – MCS, Bangalore

Virat Kohli’s India were taking on Australia in the first ODI of the five-match series on March 2, 2019, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The visiting skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, the Aussies could manage to post an ‘average’ total of 236 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.

Later in the second innings, the hosts were looking in trouble while chasing the target as they had lost their four wickets at the score of 99 runs. But it was the time when MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav stood strong for India once again to help the side win. Jadhav played a decisive unbeaten knock of 81 runs off 87 balls, with 9 fours and a six. He also stitched a match-winning unbeaten partnership of 141 runs for the fifth wicket with the former skipper MS Dhoni (59 runs off 72 balls).

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105* runs off 87 balls vs Zimbabwe (2015) – HSC, Harare

Under the captaincy of the then-stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane, the men in blue were on the tour of Zimbabwe for the three-match ODI series. After taking an unassailable lead with two successive wins in the first two ODIs, India took on the hosts in the third and last ODI of the series on July 15, 2015.

Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura won the toss and asked Rahane’s men to bat first; batting first, the hosts lost their top 4 early at the score of 82 runs before Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav took the charge. Kedar Jadhav scored a brilliant unbeaten century, scoring 105 runs off 87 balls, with 12 fours and a six. He also stitched a decisive partnership of 144 runs for the fifth wicket with the middle-order batter Manish Pandey (71 runs off 86 balls).

120 runs off 75 balls vs England (2017) – MCA Stadium, Pune

In 2017, England under the captaincy of former skipper Eoin Morgan were on a tour of India; the first match of the three-match ODI series was played at the MCA Stadium in Pune on January 15, 2017. The hosts’ skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and asked the Three Lions to bat first; batting first, England posted a big total of 350 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.

While chasing the target, India were in trouble when they lost 4 wickets at the score of 63 runs but then came a game-changing partnership of 200 runs between the then-skipper Virat Kohli and the star middle-order batter Kedar Jadhav for the fifth wicket. Kedar Jadhav scored 120 runs off just 76 balls, hitting 12 fours and 4 sixes, alongside captain Kohli’s 122 runs off 105 balls, with 8 fours and 5 sixes. Eventually, India won the game by 7 wickets to take a lead of 1-0 in the series.

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