As far as comebacks go, it cannot get better than Ravindra Jadeja’s return to India’s Test side in the ongoing series against South Africa. He started the series by taking a five-wicket haul in the first Test, in Mohali. Now, with figures of 12-2-30-5 in the demolition of the Proteas’ first innings (121) in Delhi, Jadeja has taken his wicket tally in the series to 21. To add to it, the all-rounder has made vital contributions with the bat right through the series, scoring crucial 20s and 30s in difficult batting conditions, giving India just that little bit of push to stay one step ahead of the visitors. For the left-arm spinner, the five-for in Delhi is a special one because it came on a pitch that did not offer much natural turn to the spinners on the first two days as the one in Mohali did. In a chat with BCCI.TV, Jadeja spoke about his superlative performances and described how he plotted the two of biggest wickets of the innings – AB de Villiers and Faf fu Plessis. Another five-for but on a slightly batting friendly pitch. This must feel satisfying. It is really special to get the second five-for of the series. Compared to Mohali this wicket was better for batting and there was not much turn in it. Before this Test I constantly bowled in the nets for an hour and a half, thinking I will have to bowl long hours on this wicket as it will not turn much from the onset. So, I had prepared myself mentally and physically to bowl 20-25 overs in a day.

Your strength as a bowler is accuracy. But here we also saw you get sharp turn on occasions. That is also what I worked on in the nets. I want to ensure that if I have to bowl long spells, I should be able to maintain my rhythm for the entire day and not lose it after bowling 10-12 good overs. Talk about Faf du Plessis’s wicket. Ajinkya saw him going for a paddle and went from slip to leg side to catch it. Was it a plan? The plan actually was to get him lbw. I had a word with Virat and we decided to keep the fine-leg area open because he tends to play that shot on the leg side. We wanted him to play that shot and because the ball was keeping low, we thought we had a chance to get him lbw if he tries to play a horizontal shot to the leg. Luckily the ball came on slower from the wicket and popped up. Ajinkya had enough time to get to the leg from the first slip. And what about AB de Villiers’s wicket? Did you expect Ishant to take that catch? As soon as AB hit it, we knew it wasn’t middle very well. I was hopeful that it will stay within the boundary, and if that happens, I was expecting Ishant to take it.

You finish your overs very quickly and are quick through the air as well. Does that give you an advantage as the batsman doesn’t have much time to adjust? It is very conscious. I want to bowl my overs quickly so that the batsman doesn’t have the time to plan and clear his mind before facing the next ball. So, I rush through the overs from my side. Sometimes it works to my advantage and at times it doesn’t. But I try to disturb the batsman’s concentration. You have scored crucial 20s and 30s in this low-scoring series, and you have looked responsible with the bat. Have you worked on your patience?

Yes, I have. When I go in to bat now, I tell myself that I just want to give myself time. I want to play at least 30-40 balls first and then see what the situation of the team is and what I need to do accordingly. Throughout the series I have come out to bat with just one intention – to build a partnership with the batsman on the other end.