IND vs NZ 3rd Test: Five-Star Jadeja Happy To Bounce Back After Not Performance Well In First Two Matches

Mumbai: India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the star of the show for the home team and stated it was hard to bounce back with the team trailing 0- 2 but was happy with his performance on the first day.

“First two matches I didn't perform well, nothing special. ‘Whenever you are trailing 0-2 in the series, it takes time to bounce back, its a lot more harder. But, if you look at our performance in the first Test, we didn't bat well enough in the first innings and it was the same in Pune as well. We repeated the same mistakes from the first Test in the second Test and that has been the problem for us and kept us back in the game,” he said.

There was absolute mayhem in the last 10 minutes of the day’s play when India lost the wickets of nightwatchman Mohammad Siraj and the huge wicket of Virat Kohli to a needless runout. Jadeja revealed there was no time to react sitting in the dressing room.

“There was no time to react to what was happening as everything happened so quickly..(laughs). But these things happen. It's a team game, we can't blame any individual. Mistakes happen at times. Anyway, the batsmen who are yet to bat will have to put on some crucial partnerships and give it their best shot. The closer we get to 235 or more than that that will help us.”

Talking about the failure of the top order once again and the pressure it puts on the lower order, Jadeja said pressure is a constant while playing for India.

“Pressure is always there. It’s not that there is only pressure on the lower order when the top order doesn't perform. Pressure is there even if the top order performs because then it's about what have we done. At the international level, when you are playing for India, there is pressure at all times no matter what the situation. You just cannot relax while representing India. The lesson for us here is not to repeat the mistakes that we have already done and look to make a comeback if we bat well enough tomorrow.”

The Saurashtra man also felt the hot and humid conditions made bowling a lot more tougher during the day.