Utility man Kedar Jadhav shows bowling worth

"Since the time Dhoni asked me to bowl in the New Zealand series, my life has completely changed."

It was in Dharamsala in 2016, when this idea was brought to life. The then captain-coach pair of MS Dhoni and Anil Kumble were impressed with what they saw of Kedar Jadhav, the bowler.

His initiation into bowling in India colours came during the home series against New Zealand that year, where he troubled left-handed batsmen and even earned some peculiar praise from Dhoni.

"I have no clue how he gets wickets, that's the reality of it," Dhoni had said, before making a point that resonated on Wednesday: "It is important that someone in the top 5-6 gives you some overs so that there's no pressure on Hardik to complete his 10."

Since this little discovery from the duo, Jadhav's role in the Indian team has been two-fold and hand-in-hand with the team's trusted all-rounder Hardik Pandya. With none of the top-five batters making bowling contributions - Rohit Sharma hasn't bowled in ODIs since January 2016 - Jadhav is now expected to shoulder the finisher's role and then split the 10-overs quota of the fifth bowler with Pandya. It's an arrangement that allows India to keep hold of their favourite team composition that involves four frontline bowlers and Hardik Pandya, with Jadhav chipping in as the sixth bowling option.

On Wednesday though, he had a bigger role to essay. Pandya suffered an acute lower back injury and was taken off on a stretcher in the 16th over. By then, Pandya had bowled 4.5 overs, which meant Rohit Sharma needed to get at least 31 deliveries of Jadhav's stingy off-spin while also ensuring Pakistan weren't let off the hook.

Between the 23rd and 40th over, Jadhav bowled nine on the trot and destabilized Pakistan's batting effort by dismantling their middle-order. A flighted full ball lured Sarfraz Ahmed into a mistake, after which Asif Ali and Shadab Khan fell prey to his darts full and outside the off stump.