Fit-again Jadhav hopes to get back among the runs
Kedar Jadhav has admitted that a wrist injury forced him to change his batting technique, leading to a run-drought in the domestic circuit
ESPNcricinfo staff
18-Mar-2015
Kedar Jadhav could manage only 493 runs this Ranji season as compared to 1223 in the previous one • PTI
Last season, Kedar Jadhav seemed unstoppable on his way to a chart-topping aggregate of 1223 Ranji Trophy runs at an average of 87.35. The roadblock came in the form of a fractured left wrist, which kept him out of the start of the 2014-15 domestic season. When he returned, he struggled to make runs, and he finished his Ranji Trophy campaign with 493 at an average of 30.81, with only one century as against the six he made last season.
On Wednesday, Jadhav showed glimpses of his old form while scoring a breezy 78 on the second day of the Irani Cup match against Karnataka. At the end of the day's play, Jadhav said he was pleased with the shots he played during his innings.
"The two straight drives off Vinay Kumar were the best," Jadhav said. "It showed me that my top hand is working, which I was worried about."
Jadhav said his wrist was no longer giving him trouble, but it had affected his game during the Ranji season.
"Right now there is no injury concern, but it definitely affected my technique and that is how I could not score big runs this season," he said. "Automatically my technique has changed because of the injury and it affected me during the Ranji games. I was not that much prepared, but right now it is fine and am looking back to getting into runs."
Jadhav was looking on course for a century when Abhimanyu Mithun bowled him with a ball that kept low.
"Yes, it was quite disappointing to miss out on a century on a big occasion, but the wicket was getting difficult towards the latter half of the day and they were bowling pretty good, especially Vinay [Kumar] and Mithun," Jadhav said. "They both bowled brilliantly I felt. We were fortunate to take a lead of 20 runs."