Jadeja stamps his presence on debut

For debutant Ravindra Jadeja, it was a mixed day at work but he ended up making a positive impression. After the customary handing over of the India cap was done by Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday morning, the 20-year-old seemed to be a bundle of nerves.
He even dropped a sitter while fielding at point. The batsman was Sanath Jayasuriya, who was just getting into his groove. Thankfully, the spill didn���t prove that costly.
While bowler Irfan Pathan had a smirk on his face, Rohit Sharma fielding alongside Jadeja at covers had a word of encouragement for the youngster. Jayasuriya didn���t last long and was dismissed for 37 by the same bowler.
On the unresponsive, slow Premadasa track, Jadeja���s bowling too wasn���t effective. He ended up with forgettable figures of 6-0-40-0.
The Saurashtra all-rounder, however, made up for a bad day in the field with a good batting display. With the match���s fate heavily swinging in Lanka���s favour, he decided to put a price on his wicket. With every nudge and run, he gained confidence and went on to remain unbeaten on 60. He also got a compliment from Dhoni.
"Jadeja���s batted well and that is a good sign," remarked Dhoni. The journey has just begun for this talented lad.
No squash ball
Chatrooms in the cyberworld were agog with rumours that Indian captain MS Dhoni was trying to maximise his batting display on Sunday by inserting a squash ball in his gloves. But Dhoni denied he had used such a tactic.
"It is very uncomfortable to bat with the ball inside," he clarified after the match. For the record, Adam Gilchrist was among the first to deploy such a strategy successfully in the 2007 World Cup final. And guess who the opponents were? Sri Lanka!
Crowd trouble
The stone-throwing incidents rattled the Indian team when it happened three days in succession. But Dhoni made light of the incidents, saying, "Whoever had been at it seems to be quite good at hitting the target. He should be on the cricket field. We stepped aside as a precautionary measure so that security could be in place."