Ravindra Jadeja’s Acrobatic Aerial Effort Gifts Mukesh Kumar His First ODI Scalp vs West Indies. Watch | Cricket News

The first wicket of a nascent international career is always a special one. Mukesh Kumar who recently made his Test debut, played his first ODI match for India against West Indies on Thursday. He got his maiden wicket too in the match in the eighth over, with Ravindra Jadeja playing a big role. On the fifth ball of the eighth over, Alick Athanaze went for a cut shit against a short and widish delivery from Mukesh. The ball flew over Jadeja, but his well-timed jump well and and iron grasp ensured that it was a catch.

Watch: Jadeja’s Acrobatic Aerial Effort Gifts Mukesh His First ODI Scalp

That special feeling of a debut wicket!

Mukesh Kumar #INDvWIonFanCode pic.twitter.com/dzXQ6YhCyL

— FanCode (@FanCode) July 27, 2023

Skipper Rohit Sharma and senior pro Virat Kohli, who have 76 international hundreds between them, decided to give game time to middle-order batters as India beat West Indies by five wickets in the opening ODI, riding on exploits from spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.

After Jadeja (3/37 in 6 overs) and Kuldeep (4/6 in 4 overs) set it up beautifully, shooting out the Windies for 114 in 23 overs, Ishan Kishan helped himself to a half-century (52 off 46 balls) in India’s successful chase in just 22.5 overs.

With 12 ODI matches in hand to find the perfect combination and some pieces of the puzzle still to be fixed before the World Cup, Rahul Dravid and Rohit’s decision to give game time to middle-order batters was a welcome move.

While it didn’t exactly go as per plan for Suryakumar Yadav (19), who played a non-existent sweep shot, and Hardik Pandya (5), freakishly run-out at the non-striker’s end, Kishan did his cause no harm with his fourth half-century.

The chase was never a problem but the wicket did offer a lot of turn apart from bounce which made life difficult for batters from both sides. Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie (2/26 in 6.5 overs) did ask a few probing questions but the total didn’t allow him to challenge the Indians more.

With PTI inputs