The former South African international and current bowling coach of the Indian Cricket Team, Morne Morkel hailed Ravindra Jadeja who registered his 300th wicket in the longest format during Day 4 of the second Test between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur on Sunday.
Morkel who was present at the post-day press conference, lauded Jadeja’s achievement and dubbed him as the complete package, commending his all-round contributions to the national side.
The 35-year-old entered the 300-wicket club when he dismissed Bangladesh’s Hasan Mahmud on the fourth day of the rain-hit second Test here.
“For me, he’s a complete package. You know, he bats, he bowls, he’s a guy in the field that can make magic happen. There’s always a guy that you want in your team, and he’s done that for so many years for India,” Morkel said.
“To join the 300 club is special. He’s a guy that works on his game. That is what you want to see,” Morkel added.
Jadeja has gone on to form a lethal bowling partnership with the veteran Ravichandran Ashwin and through the years the pair of gone on to wreak havoc on the opposing batters to create a partnership for the ages.
“These are guys that don’t give you any bad balls. You always (have to) find ways to score. If you face that from both ends, you’re going to work hard for your run. And that’s why, as a partnership, they’ve been so successful,” Morkel commented.
Team India was definitely disappointed to lose out 2 day’s worth of playing time to do inclement weather. But Morkel appreciated the mentality of the players to take care of themselves despite the lack of action on the field.
“It’s never nice losing time and days. I knew the boys sitting around the hotel, that was sort of very frustrating. But the way the guys went off the field, still doing their gym work, and looking after their bodies, was impressive to see for me coming into the group,” Morkel shared.
