IND vs ENG: Jadeja hits fourth Test hundred, second at home ground Rajkot in consecutive matches

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja slammed his fourth Test ton and second in consecutive games on his home ground at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot against England on Thursday.

Returning to the XI after missing the second Test in Visakhapatnam due to a hamstring injury, Jadeja teamed up with captain Rohit Sharma for a crucial 204-run stand for the fourth wicket after England reduced India to 33 for three.

The 35-year-old negotiated probing spells from England seamers James Anderson and Mark Wood and brought up his half-century off 97 deliveries while Rohit struck his 11th Test hundred. Rohit eventually fell for 131 as Jadeja took on the mantle with debutant Sarfaraz Khan for company.

FOLLOW: IND vs ENG LIVE Score, 3rd Test Day 1 updatesWhile he was stranded in the nineties for more than 12 overs, Jadeja eventually reached his hundred off 198 deliveries, with seven fours and two sixes.

Incidentally, the hundred was Jadeja’s first Test ton since his 104 against the same opposition in Birmingham in July 2022. Jadeja’s maiden Test hundred came in his previous Test innings in Rajkot in 2018 against the West Indies.

The left-hander had then struck 104 off 194 deliveries before India rolled the West Indies over with an innings and 272-run win. Jadeja has historically enjoyed batting at his home venue, having recorded more than 1500 First-Class runs at the ground with a 100-plus average. His highest First-Class score of 331 came at this venue in the 2012-13 season of the Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra. In his first Test appearance at the venue in 2016, Jadeja had registered unbeaten 32 in the second-innings to earn India a draw against England.

Jadeja’s highest Test score, an unbeaten 175, came against Sri Lanka in Mohali in early 2022. The southpaw also completed 7000 runs in First-Class cricket during his knock and is one wicket shy of completing 500 wickets in the format.