Jadeja becomes 2nd Indian cricketer to claim 500 international wickets and score 5,000 runs
Star allrounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday entered the record books, becoming only the second Indian player after Kapil Dev to take 500 wickets and amass 5,000 runs in international cricket.
The 34-year-old achieved the rare feat on the opening day of the third Test between India and Australia when he trapped opener Travis Head leg-before for his 260th wicket in Test cricket, which took his overall tally to 500 wickets across the three formats.
Jadeja has so far claimed 189 wickets in 171 ODIs at an average of 37.36 and in the shortest format the left-arm spinner has 51 dismissals to his name in 64 appearances.
As a valuable batter who has bailed India out from tough situations both at home and away, Jadeja’s stocks have been on a constant rise in Test cricket. He has scored 2,619 runs in the longest format at an average of 36.88, with two of his three tons — including the career-best of 175 not out — coming over the last 12 months.
In 171 ODIs, Jadeja has scored 2,447 runs at 32.62 with 13 fifties and in 64 T20Is, he has hit 457 runs at 24.05.
India’s 1983 World Cup winning captain, Kapil Dev was the first from the country to achieve this feat, claiming 434 and 253 wickets to finish with a total of 687 dismissals in 131 Tests and 225 ODIs respectively.
With the bat, Kapil smacked 5,248 runs at 31.05 with 8 centuries and 27 fifties in Tests, while in one-dayers, he made 3,783 runs at 23.09 with 14 fifties and his only century in the format being the monumental 175 not out against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup.
Apart from Jadeja and Kapil, the elite list includes South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (25,534 runs and 577 wickets) and Shaun Pollock (7,386 runs and 829 wickets), Pakistan’s Imran Khan (7,516 runs and 544 wickets), Wasim Akram (6,615 runs and 916 wickets), Shahid Afridi (11,196 runs and 541 wickets).
England’s Sir Ian Botham (7,313 runs and 528 wickets), Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas (5,114 runs and 755 wickets), New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori (6,989 runs and 667 wickets) and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan (13,445 runs and 653 wickets) also took 500 wickets and scored 5000 runs in international cricket.
