1st test: Jadeja joins Kapil, Imran on the elite list with a crucial fifty against England

India’s all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja joined an elite list of cricketers when he completed a 2,000-run, 200-wicket double test during his bold strike of 56 runs on a rain-marred 3rd day of the opening test in Nottingham.

Jadeja is the 5th Indian cricketer and 21st player overall to score 2000 runs and take 200 wickets in Test cricket. Kapil, Ashwin, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are the others. Jadeja got to the milestone with a boundary and in the process helping India take the lead in the first innings.

Jadeja completed the 2000 runs and 200 wicket combo in just 53 Tests which ranks below England’s Ian Botham (42 Tests), India’s Kapil (50 Tests), Pakistan’s Imran Khan (50 Tests) and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (51 Tests).

Jadeja stayed back to stretch that lead, hitting eight boundaries and a six in his half-century, which he celebrated with trademark bat-twirling.

Meanwhile, India rode half-centuries by KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to claim a handy 95-run first-innings lead against England on a rain-curtailed day three of the opening test on Friday. The hosts were 25 for no loss, still 70 behind, in their second innings when play was abandoned for the day just five overs after the tea break.

The first match of the five-test also marks the beginning of a new World Test Championship cycle