Thursday 22 December 2016

Ravindra Jadeja

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Nicknamed Revdi, Ravindra Jadeja, born on December 6, 1988 in Navagam-Khed, is a slow left-arm orthodox bowler who is a more-than-useful lower middle order batsman. Jadeja was part of the Under-19 team that lost to Pakistan in the 2006 World Cup but finished champions in 2008 with him making a notable contribution throughout the tournament.

He was picked by the Rajasthan franchise and played some blinders lower down the order in the inaugural IPL in 2008. He saved his best for the Ranji season. In the 2008-09 first-Class season, Jadeja was outstanding for Saurashtra, topping the bowling charts with 42 wickets and finishing sixth on the run-getters list with 739 runs.

Such a performance was hard to ignore and Jadeja was promptly included in the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka ODIs in January 2009. He made his debut in the final match of the series, scoring a fifty even as India lost. After his T20 debut the same year, Jadeja came under criticism for his slow knock against England in the T20 WC in 2009 as a result of which India were eliminated from the tournament. He was also run out at a crucial juncture in the fifth ODI against Australia in Hyderabad, which India narrowly lost despite Sachin Tendulkar smashing 175. However, his captain MS Dhoni supported him and he came back strongly in the following ODI series against Sri Lanka, registering a four-wicket haul in the 3rd ODI in Cuttack.

With the World Cup 2011 in sight, Jadeja got many chances in the ODI format as he was the only decent option available in the 'all-rounders' category. He performed consistently with the ball, but his performances with the bat were nowhere close to India's expectations and his batting failures led to him being dropped from the World Cup squad.

However, he returned to the ODI side after a successful IPL season and celebrated his comeback game with a special knock on September 9, 2011, scoring a fine 78 after a top-order collapse in the third ODI at The Oval against England.

Jadeja has always been Dhoni's go-to man when he needed to break a partnership and the left-armer has delivered the goods on many occasions. His presence gives Dhoni the extra cushion of playing an additional batsman if needed.

He was with Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the 2011 edition of the IPL and then was bought for a whopping 2 million USD by Chennai in. His exploits in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, during which he also became the first player to make three triple centuries, earned him a Test call-up against the visiting English team in 2012 in the Nagpur Test. The Saurashtrian, continued his good form in the following ODI series against England, picking up nine wickets and also backing it up with 128 runs with the bat, which included a match defining 61 not out in Kochi. In the home Test series against Australia in 2013, he was preferred to Pragyan Ojha for his all-round abilities.

Jadeja's dream run continued in 2013, when he picked up 24 wickets in the historic 4-0 win against Australia at home. He was virtually unplayable in the series, dismissing Michael Clarke five out of six times. His seven-wicket haul, including a five-fer in the second innings in the final Test.
In the Champions Trophy in 2013, Jadeja played a useful knock of 33 against England in the final and also picked up two wickets - a performance crucial in India's win over the hosts. A couple of months later, Jadeja topped the ICC ODI rankings as the No. 1 bowler, becoming the first Indian bowler to top the rankings since Anil Kumble in 1996.

Jadeja had a fantastic time in 2013 as he ended up with 52 wickets in ODIs, becoming the third highest wicket-taker in the year across the globe. As a result, he also became the first left-arm spinner in the history of ODI cricket to take 50 wickets in a single year. He also registered his career-best figures of 5/36 in that period against West Indies at The Oval.

He had a decent start to 2014 as well, when he made a quick-fire fifty in the third ODI against New Zealand in Auckland, helping India to tie the game from nowhere. He also got an extended run with IPL side Chennai as they retained him for the 2014 edition. In the final game of India's Asia Cup campaign, Jadeja ran through Afghanistan's line-up at will and registered figures of 4/30. However, he didn't have the best of times at the 2014 World T20 as he was expensive and did not manage to pick up many wickets. Jadeja played all four Test matches against England in 2014 but did not record good scores, barring a crucial fifty in the Lord's Test. His form with the bat in ODIs was not great either and he lost his place to Axar Patel on a few occasions. However, the selectors showed faith in Jadeja and included him in the squad for the 2015 ICC World Cup.

As a shrewd left-arm spinner who can make life difficult for batsmen and an useful batter in the middle-order, Jadeja was expected to play a key role for India in their bid to defend the trophy. However, the allrounder failed to come to the party despite being persisted with for all the games India played. He managed to pick up only 9 wickets in 8 matches and couldn't do much with the bat either.

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