India's batting all-rounder Kedar Jadhav finds it "difficult to wait for his turn to bat" but realizes that he has no option but to show his utility in the limited time that he gets out there due to a star-studded top-order.
In the three completed World Cup games, Jadhav didn't get to bat against South Africa and Australia, while playing just eight balls against Pakistan.
It becomes a challenge to always perform in short span of time and Jadhav is the first one to admit that.
"The most difficult part is to wait for your turn, and it's like you get to bat so many deliveries, maybe once in a tournament. It has been like this from the time I started playing for India and our top order has been very good since last four years," Jadhav said after scoring a patient 52 against Afghanistan on a slow Hampshire Bowl track.
Afghanistan was one game where Jadhav got to play 68 balls and spend around an hour and a half (88 minutes) at the crease.
"It's very less time that I get to spend in the middle when everything is going well. Today, it was a conscious effort to get some balls for me also. So that's why I was sent to bat at No 6," said the Maharashtra batsman.
There was enough time for him to build an innings on Saturday and Jadhav is happy that he could utilize it to the fullest.
"To be able to score runs and get what your team needs, you need to give yourself time because then you cannot ask again. So it was important to use those many balls to get set and then you choose your bowlers and choose your areas," he said.
Jadhav said the wicket wasn't conducive for strokeplay and when he was batting alongside Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the plan was to get to 250 to 260 which they thought was a par score on this track.
"I guess the wicket was slow and the balls were turning. So it was difficult to play shots. It's also not wise to hit when there is turn. So our actual plan was to look for around 250 but we fell short by 20 to 30 runs (from par score)," he explained.
"So while going for fielding, we knew that we have to make up those 15 to 20 runs on the field. Obviously, the credit goes to the bowlers that they defended this small total. Also, we had faith in our death over specialists." India and England are being considered as the two contenders for a place in the final.
Will the June 30th encounter be a dress rehearsal for the final? "30th of June is almost a week from now. There's one more game before that. As a team, we've always been thoughtful of what is coming next instead of thinking what is coming after ten days?
"So our next focus is on our West Indies game, and obviously the kind of momentum we're having would like to keep on this and try to improve as we can," Kedar signed off.
