NEW DELHI: Ravindra Jadeja added another remarkable milestone to his Test career on Monday, becoming only the fourth cricketer in history to score at least 4,000 runs and take 350 or more wickets in the longest format.Jadeja reached the landmark on the third day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, picking up his second wicket of the innings to complete 350 Test wickets. His milestone wicket came when Keshara Nuwantha attempted to slap-drive an away-turner through the off side, only for the ball to take a deflection off his knee and balloon towards Shubman Gill, who completed the catch.The wicket also made Jadeja only the fifth Indian to reach 350 Test wickets, joining Anil Kumble (619), Ravichandran Ashwin (537), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417).Jadeja had earlier scored 13 runs in India’s first innings, which ended on 462, before making his mark with the ball as Sri Lanka reached 243/7 in reply.
Jadeja joins Kapil, Botham and Vettori
Jadeja’s latest achievement puts him in an exclusive club alongside three legendary all-rounders — Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Daniel Vettori.Kapil remains the leading run-scorer among the four, having amassed 5,248 runs and taken 434 wickets in 131 Tests for India. England great Botham finished with 5,200 runs and 383 wickets in 102 Tests, while former New Zealand captain Vettori collected 4,531 runs and 362 wickets in 113 Tests.Jadeja, with 4,108 runs and 350 wickets in 90 Tests, is the only member of the elite quartet to have achieved the double before playing 100 Tests, underlining the extraordinary efficiency of his all-round contribution.The milestone further strengthens Jadeja’s standing among the most productive left-arm spinners in Test history. He is now third among left-arm spinners for Test wickets, behind Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (433) and Vettori (362), while England’s Derek Underwood (297) and Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam (271) follow.
Another milestone in an extraordinary career
Jadeja’s consistency with both bat and ball has made him one of India’s most valuable Test cricketers over the past decade. His ability to contribute runs down the order while providing control and wickets as a spinner has repeatedly allowed India to balance their playing XI.Among left-arm spinners with at least 125 Test wickets, only South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj has a better strike rate than Jadeja’s 58.1, with Maharaj at 56.4.The 350-wicket mark also places Jadeja alongside some of the game’s most celebrated all-rounders, but his route to the milestone stands apart. While Kapil, Botham and Vettori crossed 4,000 runs and 350 wickets after lengthy Test careers, Jadeja has reached the same landmark in fewer than 100 matches.With the first Test against Sri Lanka still in progress, Jadeja now has the opportunity to add to both his wicket and run tallies and further cement his place among Test cricket’s greatest all-rounders.
