"He is his bunny" - Ravi Shastri lauds Ravindra Jadeja's dismissal of Steve Smith in IND vs AUS World Cup 2023 clash

Ravi Shastri has lauded Ravindra Jadeja for maintaining his stranglehold on Steve Smith and dismissing him with a peach of a delivery in the World Cup 2023 clash between India and Australia.

Jadeja registered figures of 3/28 in 10 overs, including Smith's scalp, as the Men in Blue bowled out the Aussies for 199 in Chennai on Sunday, October 8. The hosts then chased down the target with six wickets and 52 deliveries to spare to begin their campaign on a winning note.

While reviewing the game on Star Sports, Shastri was asked about his thoughts on Ravindra Jadeja's dismissal of Steve Smith, to which he responded:

"Dream dismissal and he has dismissed him 10 to 12 times. He (Smith) is his bunny. It is not that easy to play such a delivery because of the speed at which he bowls. As a batter, you don't know which ball is going to turn and which ball will go straight."

The former Indian all-rounder added that the left-arm spinner virtually forces batters to second-guess his deliveries. He explained:

"He (Jadeja) himself said in the interview that he doesn't know which ball will turn and which will go straight. If he doesn't know, how will the batter know? So he plays inside the line at times and outside the line on other occasions."

Shastri pointed out that Jadeja is extremely difficult to face on spin-friendly surfaces. He elaborated:

"If he plays outside, he becomes leg-before and if he plays inside, it hits the stumps, just like it happened with Smith. It's not easy as he will trouble anyone. If he gets a surface like this, he becomes the most difficult bowler because his every ball does not turn."

Jadeja has dismissed Smith 11 times in international cricket. Apart from the former Australian skipper, the spin-bowling all-rounder also got rid of Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey in Sunday's game to alter the course of the game.

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"Steve Smith was well-set when he came to bowl" - Irfan Pathan on Ravindra Jadeja's dismissal of former Australian captain

Steve Smith had played 70 deliveries before he was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja. [P/C: AP]

Irfan Pathan pointed out that Steve Smith was flummoxed by Ravindra Jadeja despite having gotten his eye in. He observed:

"Steve Smith was well-set when he came to bowl. He first made him play on the back foot. He tried to bring the ball in and not get it to turn much. The average turn was around 2.3 degrees but he gave more revs on the ball that turned and made him play forward. He didn't allow Smith to get any idea."

Pathan concluded by highlighting that Jadeja's pace causes problems for the batters as they are unable to play the aggressive sweep against him. He pointed out that they can only employ the lap sweep but added that the Saurashtra spinner didn't even give the Australian batters the chance to play that shot in Sunday's game.