What a time it is to be Ravindra Jadeja! A month back, the left-arm spinner was dropped from the first four Tests against England and hadn’t played limited overs cricket for over a year. Putting all that behind him, the Saurashtra player made a thumping comeback by scoring 86 not out against England and picking up 7 wickets. Days later, he was called to replace Axer Patel at the Asia Cup in UAE. Jadeja responded in style, picking up four wickets against Bangladesh in his first match.

Later in the tournament, he played a couple of crucial knocks against Afghanistan and Bangladesh, respectively, helping India retain the title. On Friday, the 29-year-old all-rounder silenced his critics once again with another impressive performance against West Indies.

The all-rounder hammered his maiden Test hundred on day 2 of the first Test against West Indies at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium. Jadeja came out to bat after Rishabh Pant was dismissed by Devendra Bishoo for 92. The 29-year-old stuck in the middle with skipper Virat Kohli but shifted gears after the latter departed.

He reached his maiden Test hundred from 132 balls at a strike rate of 75.75. Jadeja’s knock included 5 fours and 5 sixes. It took Ravindra Jadeja 56 innings to reach his maiden Test century which is the third most for any Indian player. Anil Kumble took 151 innings to reach his maiden Test hundred. He remained not out when Virat Kohli called for the declaration of Indian innings at 649/9.

Jadeja’s outing did not end here as he pulled off a run-out to get rid of Shimron Hetmyer. In fact, he teased Hetmyer before taking down the stumps, leaving Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin initially confused, and later reeling in laughter. Here is the video of the run out by Jadeja:

Brought into the attack by Kohli when Windies were already four down for 49, Jadeja got rid of Sunil Ambris for 12 to complete a perfect day.

Asked after the day’s play about his comeback, Jadeja said, “I was playing after 15 months so I had to make a mark. Luckily, I got the chance in the first game (in Asia Cup) and picked up wickets. I wanted to perform for myself and not for others,” he said. Jadeja added that he is enjoying his cricket and added that he hopes that this goes on.