Refreshed Jadeja rediscovers his mojo

In the third over of South Africa's chase, R Ashwin went round the wicket to welcome Faf du Plessis to the crease. Du Plessis jumped out of the crease to reach the pitch of the ball, and would have thought he had done well as he defended it towards midwicket. He wasn't allowed that micro-second to admire the shot. Ravindra Jadeja swooped in and fired in a rocket throw to the keeper. Du Plessis had to rush back in. This is the attitude Virat Kohli loves. Just notice the time he spends between collecting the ball and letting it rip no matter how close the batsman might be to the crease.

On pitches such as this, when you have to concentrate hard every ball, you are looking for every chance to switch off. Jadeja gives you none. Almost every time a batsman stepped out and defended the ball back to Jadeja the bowler, he had to rush back in. Jadeja has the speed, and the power in his arm to send the batsman scurrying. It might be outlandish conjecture to suggest this might have made the batsmen think twice before stepping out, but Jadeja was always close in to let them know they couldn't relax.

That Jadeja was throwing so hard was also a possible sign that the injured shoulder had healed completely. He was back home, bowling accurately with a lot of action on the ball, on home pitches whose natural variation combined with his unerring accuracy - and the guile of R Ashwin at the other end - make him a lethal bowler. His eight wickets and 38 runs in the first innings earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, a dream return to international cricket. He now has 35 wickets in six home Tests at an average of 17.48 and a strike rate of 50.2. He nearly didn't play the sixth after the shoulder injury was followed by lacklustre bowling and his exit from all the India sides.

Jadeja went back to Ranji Trophy cricket, took 37 wickets in three matches and roared back into the squad. You could see there was more shoulder into the ball now. Jadeja, though, was more worried than excited about making it back into the side. His home team and his home ground have a reputation, you see. Cheteshwar Pujara has had his runs scored in Rajkot questioned all his life, and Jadeja his wickets. He didn't want that reinforced.

"I last played in the ODI series in Bangladesh," Jadeja said. "I was out of the team after that. There was a break of two-three months, so I thought let me enjoy my horse riding. It was a good time. Just rode my horses. When Ranji Trophy was about to begin, about one month before that I began practising and working out. The game plan was to make spinning wickets because other team's strength was pace bowling. That's why we thought we would play spinners and play on turning tracks.

"When the wickets came in the first two-three matches, confidence followed by itself. There was a different confidence in me now. Then I was selected for India after two matches. Then I thought I have to do well for India too. 'I can't relax.' Otherwise you get an image that you do well only in domestic cricket. That you don't do well in international cricket. Personally I was worried about that more than anything, that you don't want that label that you do well only in Ranji Trophy or domestic cricket. I wanted to do well in international cricket too."

The value of Jadeja's experience on similar pitches in domestic cricket cannot be overstated. When the pitch is turning, you need bowlers who will keep attacking that off stump. Jadeja has that pace that doesn't allow the batsmen to recover off the pitch. Once they have made a slight error they are gone. Then he needs just the one ball to turn in one spell. A perfect example was du Plessis in the first innings. The first ball turned, and took a thick outside edge. Du Plessis left alone the next one. You need bowlers who will hit the stumps at such times because once these big batsmen get in they make few mistakes. Jadeja was at it. Du Plessis was gone.

Jadeja doesn't talk up his bowling too much. He wasn't going to do so now. "Everybody in the stadium knew the ball was turning," he said. "Just had to put it in the right place. Sometimes when the ball is turning, a bowler can try too many things. I just wanted to not give boundaries when the wickets weren't coming. That is the time to restrict the batsman and bowl in one place so that pressure can be created. Not all the balls were turning, and they mostly got out to the ones that didn't turn. There was no special major gameplan."

This fitness, some batting and that shoulder and arm is what made MS Dhoni back Jadeja for Tests when others couldn't see him as a Test player. Now that Jadeja has found all that, this gameplan will do just fine.