Sensational Kedar Jadhav: A Farewell to Cricket and the Iconic Century Against England Along With Kohli

Originally posted on Total Apex Sports
By Muhammad Hashir | Last updated Jun 4, 2024 6:40 AM ET

On Monday, June 3, Kedar Jadhav officially hung his boots in all formats of the game, thereby bringing his glorious career on the cricket field to a close. Twitter and Instagram are some of the most preferred platforms for players to present their cases or send any other special message to fans or the cricket community at large. The same has been adopted by Jadhav here as well, writing an emotional note.

Reflecting on Kedar Jadhav’s Legacy

Wanting to always spend time with Kedar Jadhav, the cricket community looks back at the epitome of his career—a heroic hundred against England in Pune in 2017. This inning not only gave him a place in the book of cricket legends but also proved the metal in a critical situation.

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Waiting to be inspired, the stage is set for heroics

As the two heavyweights played out the first innings on the proverbial cricket battlefield, they reserved their best for their batsmen as England had set up a significant target of 351 runs, which was a tall task for India to chase. Sri Lanka started crumbling, and the home side was reduced to 63 for four, much to the fans’ shock, fearing that the team might be suffering from a batting collapse.

However, in the topsy-turvy game, K. L Rahul, the local boy, came to bat along with the captain, Virat Kohli. Kedar Jadhav came all out attacking right from the beginning and exploded onto the ground, taking the English bowlers apart with an amazing display of power hitting.

It was a bold inning from Kedar Jadhav, who again revealed himself as a master of aggressive batting as he unleashed lovely shots all around the ground. Clobbering his way to a half-century in merely 29 balls, the batsman then shifted gears and raced to his century in a record-breaking time of 65 balls, making that Indian list of fastest ODI hundred.

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Crucial Partnership with Kohli

His partnership with Kohli was quite promising, and it turned the game around from an England perspective by scoring 200 runs for the loss of a few wickets. After Kohli’s dismissal, Jadhav also did not lose focus and was not intimidated by the Australian speed ahead of us. He further understood that the best way was to be aggressive yet, at the same time, play according to the situation.

For the final blast, Kedar Jadhav came into the limelight again as he played a valiant knock of 120 runs in 76 balls, including 12 fours and four sixes. By then, he had put India in such a competitive position that it seemed only a massive batting display was needed to overhaul the target.

The responsibility of finishing the game fell to Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin, who displayed remarkable composure to guide India over the line with 11 balls to spare. Hardik’s unbeaten 40 and Ashwin’s steady 15 were instrumental in translating Kedar Jadhav and Kohli’s brilliance into a memorable victory.

As Kedar Jadhav bids farewell to the cricket arena, fans will forever cherish his contributions to the sport. Particularly his unforgettable innings against England, which exemplified his prowess as a player and his indomitable spirit on the field.