Birthday special: Ravindra Jadeja – India’s ace all-rounder in all three formats

India’s most successful left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja’s cricket career has been nothing less than a roller-coaster ride. From being the most ridiculed and hated Indian cricketer on social media during the early days of his career to being the backbone of India’s bowling attack, Jadeja’s journey has been inspirational.

The beginning

Born on 6th December 1988, Jadeja was the vice-captain of India’s U19 squad that won the World Cup in 2008. He played some crucial knocks to help his team win the tournament and was knocking at the door of the Indian cricket team. But, it was his performance in the Ranji Trophy edition of 2008-09 that helped him earn the spotlight. He finished the season with 42 wickets and 739 runs. The Saurashtra-born finally got his debut ODI cap on February 8, 2009, against Sri Lanka, where he scored unbeaten 60 in a losing cause. This was followed by the all-rounder making his maiden T20I appearance against Sri Lanka on February 10, 2009.

However, in 2009, Jadeja became an easy target for the trollers and memers after a disastrous performance in the T20 World Cup. In a do-or-die group game against England, Jadeja scored runs at a very slow pace and India lost the match by three runs. His knock of 25 runs off 35 balls was massively criticised on social media and he was termed as the villain.

Rise through performances

However, the bowling all-rounder took all the criticism and mock comments in his stride to turn the tables. For the next three to four years, Jadeja was in and out of the national team. He worked hard in the domestic circuit and was slowly making his way back to the white-ball cricket. But it was his debut in the purest format of the game in 2013 that completely changed his career.

Jadeja was included in the dead-rubber in the home Test series against England in 2013. On his debut, he bowled 70 overs and finished with the figures of 117/3. A decent debut meant Ravindra was included in Indian squad for the Australia tour of India in early 2013. He along with spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dismantled Australia’s batting line-up to help India record a historic whitewash against the visitors.

One of the best knocks. From a no hope situation, Ravindra Jadeja did the unthinkable and tied the game.#HappyBirthdayJadeja pic.twitter.com/ZdxbkNSYrZ

— ? ? ? ? ? ヅ (@rakesh_Tarakian) December 6, 2020

It was the golden year of Jadeja’s career as in the same year, he was included in India’s squad for Champions Trophy and was adjudged the golden ball for his terrific bowling performance throughout the marquee event. After that, there was no looking back for the all-rounder as he became a regular feature in Indian squad in all the three formats of the game.

However, the Saurashtra-born’s career again took a dip after his poor performance in the Champions Trophy 2017. He was again termed as the reason behind India’s loss in the final of the tournament. Though the cricketer was dropped from the playing XI, he was mainly included in the 15-member squad for his acrobatic fielding skills. After 2017, Jadeja was mainly used as a replacement player or as a 12th man as no one could deny the fact that he was a live wire on the field and could help the team win matches by taking some exceptional catches.

Glorious return

There was another twist in the tale during the 2019 World Cup. Jadeja was mainly used as a fielder throughout the tournament in England and could feature in playing XI of only two matches. However, his performance in the semi-finals of the World Cup where India lost the game to New Zealand, again paced the way for his entry in the team. When all the main batsmen failed to score runs, Jadeja’s 59-ball 77 took the team close to victory. Despite his limited presence, he emerged as the best fielder of the tournament saving at least seven runs more than any other cricketer in the tournament. Second-best fielder Martin Guptill had played seven more matches than him.

Happy Birthday “Sir Jadeja” (@imjadeja) Thanks For This knock in World Cup 2019. #RavindraJadeja
Credit: Twitter Tweets pic.twitter.com/HPlKdsLufD

— Ashish Singh (@OfficialFanAG) December 6, 2020

After this, the all-rounder was immensely praised for his heroics with the willow and has been going strong with both the bat and ball since then. He has emerged as the perfect power-hitter for India at Number 7 position along with being the spinner who can bowl full-time.