Aditya
ICC Board Member
Ravindra Jadeja ? an ODI specialist. Yes, that?s how he was seen before the recent series vs Australia. India?s ODI side needed someone like Jadeja, who could bat in the lower order and bowl his quota of 10 overs, ideally not giving away too many runs. Jadeja effectively accomplished in this and excelled as a very fine AR for India. He has been a part of the Indian ODI side for quite some time now but he was never regarded as a player, suited for test cricket. However, the scenario has changed quite drastically over the last couple of months.
Jadeja?s first class record speaks quite highly of him, as a batsman that is. 3 triple hundreds in the Ranji Trophy for an AR is really something special but when we look at it in this way; he made both the triple hundreds at Rajkot, which is obviously regarded as a batsmen paradise. Therefore, Jadeja really being regarded as an AR who can bat and bowl equally well was still under the radar. Frankly, no one has ever seen Jadeja as someone who can actually be handy with the bat. He?s a bowling AR, who has a lot to be prove as a batsman, on the international level but as he has successfully made a name for himself as an spin AR, people expect him to do equally well with the bat too.
However, considering the position at which he bats in ODI?s and tests, his contributions has been immensely valuable. Admittedly, he hasn't been too useful with the bat but his bowling has at various occasions proved to be match winning. The recent Australian series is just another example of that. At the starting of the series, if someone said that Jadeja would actually manage to pick up more than 20 wickets in the series, I wouldn't have agreed but clearly I would have been wrong.
It was of utmost importance for Jadeja to prove himself at the test level. With India losing to England, at home, it raised some serious questions over the capability of the Indian spinners. Therefore, Indian fans expected India to bounce back in this Australian series and prove that, Indian spinners are still quite capable of leading their side to victory single-handedly. This is just what happened and it was proved that Indian spinners can indeed win matches for their team but that?s not all, the most satisfying fact was to see all three spinners in Jadeja, Ashwin and Ojha perform. It was a collective effort and although Ashwin picked up the most wickets, everyone would agree that the support from the 2 spinners at the other end was extremely vital.
As an Indian cricket fan, it?s great to see Ravindra Jadeja perform for the sole reason that he?s an AR and Indian team has since Kapil Dev, lacked a good AR in their side. AR?s have come and gone but no one has been able to resist the pressure of International cricket. Expectations from Jadeja will keep on increasing, it?s just a matter of being able to resist the pressure at the international level for Jadeja and if he successfully does that, he can indeed become a very fine player for the Indian team. He is indeed a very bright prospect for the Indian team.
Jadeja?s life story is extremely inspiring. Jadeja has had several obstacles in his life but he has crossed each one of them to become what he is today; a well accomplished cricketer for India at the international level. The recent Australian series has certainly proved that Jadeja is certainly fit for test cricket and can really emerge as a great prospect for Indian team?s future. With Jadeja excelling in bowling spin, the expectations now lie with his batting skills, which if he can work upon can be very handy for the Indian team and can further make him a far better all-rounder?s who can bowl and bat equally well. It is fitting to say that Jadeja?s emerging as a fine AR will benefit both India?s ODI and test side in huge way and he will certainly prove to be extremely handy in both the formats and of course he?s already a very fine t-20 player.
They don't call him Sir Ravindra Jadeja for nothing.
