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Four years ago, as India were down to the last four wickets against New Zealand in the World Cup at the Old Trafford, still needing a miracle, Ravindra Jadeja kept the chase going. As MS Dhoni opted for a more cautious approach, Jadeja scored at a run-a-ball. This was the same tournament where Sanjay Manjrekar’s infamous ‘bits-and-pieces cricketer’ remark for Jadeja created quite the storm in Indian cricket. Come the semifinal, as Jadeja completed his half-century, for the first time, his trademark sword celebration was secondary. Jadeja completed the single and kept running straight down the line of the commentary box. Even Rohit Sharma, perched on the team balcony, made a muscle gesture towards Jadeja, backing him to get the job done. In a rare sight, India had their hopes pinned on Jadeja more than Dhoni, and deep down, even with the presence of India’s finisher extraordinaire at one end, many knew that Jadeja’s dismissal for a valiant 77 off 59 balls in the 48th over marked the end of India’s World Cup journey.
With this began Jadeja’s batting resurgence as over the next few years, he became India’s most improved cricketer. His wicket-taking ability was never in doubt, and his reputation as a livewire on the field only enhanced further. But in his batting, India had found the missing block in their lower-order puzzle. He became the new Mr. Dependable for India in Tests, with Jadeja’s numbers improving to 847 in 17 innings at an average of 49.82. Quite the upswing.
However, fast forward to October 3, five days before India open their campaign at a home World Cup, Jadeja’s form with the bat is perhaps the only box unticked. Since his return from surgery, Jadeja in ODIs has scored 189 runs from 12 innings. He was never one to launch into the opposition bowling attack from Day 1, but lately, his acceleration has started to result in dismissal and the cracks become even more visible when batting against spinners. To think that Jadeja is a guarantee in India’s World Cup Playing XI is alarming given his ODI strike rate in 2023 with a highest of 45 dating back to his first one-dayer post-surgery.
It’s rare to recall the last time a player witnessed such significant contrast in red-ball and white-ball formats. Typically, the challenge is to transition from ODIs to Tests, but Jadeja’s performance presents a particularly peculiar and vexing case. There have never been questions around Jadeja’s skill, but his approach is alarming.
Jadeja is yet to score a fifty in T20Is, and his last ODI half-century came in December of 2020 in Australia – 66 of 50 balls with five fours and three sixes at a strike-rate of 132. His last fifty at home was in 2013, when Dhoni was still India’s all-format captain and Sachin Tendulkar was yet to retire. Rohit Sharma hadn’t made his Test debut and Virat Kohli was still four years away from earning the ‘King’ moniker. In all fairness, Jadeja’s ODI returns aren’t as impactful as his stellar show in Tests, but despite the floundering numbers and trivias, Sunil Gavaskar isn’t worried that Jadeja is no longer scoring at the clip he once used to.
“Not really. With the kind of experience that he has, it’s not a worry. The important thing is that he is such a fast runner between the wicket. Often, we overlook it… the fact that from the non-striker end, he helps the batter covert ones into twos. So, I think those are the little things that are important. So yeah, I am not worries after Ravindra Jadeja at all. He is a top player, a wonderful player… rockstar, like Shane Warne once said,” the legendary former India captain said in response to a question from Hindustan Times.
This is the same Gavaskar who couldn’t keep calm when a young Jadeja ran himself out during India’s infamous defeat to Australia in Hyderabad 2009 – the same ODI where Sachin Tendulkar’s 175 got India tantalisingly close to win. “Where is the run? Tell me, where is it?” he had said on air. Neither did Gavaskar mince words whenever Jadeja has excessively overstepped. But maybe… just maybe, the Little Master isn’t quite on target this time around. In IPL 2021, when Harshal Patel bowled the most expensive 37-run over, it was Jadeja who smoked the RCB quick for 4 sixes, but a bigger number was 221.43 – the strike rate at which Jadeja pummelled 62 off 28 balls. Three years later, in the IPL 2023 final, Jadeja was five off four balls before creaming a six and four to take CSK over the finishing line and to a fifth title.
In 2019, Jadeja was in a similar position, and boy… did he trigger a turnaround. His knock in the semis was so good that it made Manjrekar apologise. Déjà vu, anyone?
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