On Day 2 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali, Ravindra Jadeja etched his name in history by smashing a career-best unbeaten knock of 175 runs. On Saturday, Jadeja eclipsed Kapil Dev's record for the greatest score by an Indian batsman batting at No. 7 or lower in Test cricket. For 35 years, Kapil held the record. While batting at No. 7, he scored 163 against Sri Lanka in Kanpur in December 1986. On Saturday, Jadeja surpassed that mark with an innings marked by class and authority.
Jadeja also became only the third Indian to score over 150 in Test cricket while batting at No. 7 or lower. Apart from Jadeja and Kapil, Rishabh Pant is the only other batsman to score 150 or more runs while batting at that position. In 2019, the India wicketkeeper-batsman made an unbeaten 159 against Australia in Sydney.
For the record, MS Dhoni has a top Test score of 144 when batting at No. 7. In 2011, he had done so against South Africa.
Returning to Jadeja's performance, the left-hander put up three century partnerships, the first with Pant, the second with Ashwin, and the third with Mohammed Shami, to help India to a huge first-inning total of 574 for 8.
When captain Rohit Sharma opted to declare the Indian innings, Jadeja was unbeaten on 175 and Shami was batting on 20.
In his immaculate innings, Jadeja struck three sixes and as much as 17 fours while scoring at a remarkable strike rate of 76.75.
In the 103-run partnership between him and Shami, the aggressive left-hander scored more than 80% of the runs.