India’s Ravindra Jadeja with teammates celebrates the wicket of Bangladeshi batter Khaled Ahmed during the fourth day of the 2nd Test cricket match between India and Bangladesh, at the Green Park stadium, Kanpur, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (PTI Photo/Vijay Verma)
Some bowlers are predestined to capture 300 wickets. Ravindra Jadeja was not one of them. That is what makes this achievement an extra topping of sugar on his 300th wicket celebration cake.
When he made his Test debut in the last Test against England in 2012, it was misconstrued as cronyism, of then captain MS Dhoni’s proximity with him, of the same player management group representing both; of myopic selection policies, of India’s regressive rank-turners stasis. Had someone foretold that Jadeja would end up with more wickets than the fabled quartet or scored more runs and hundreds than Yuvraj Singh and Wasim Jaffer, or transformed into one of the greatest all-rounders the country has produced, he would have been referred to the nearest shrink.
This indifference only enriches the beauty of the Jadeja narrative and captures the essence of his transformation. He embedded more layers to his bowling. He imbibed the difficult art of modulating his pace. The current avatar could rattle a batsman with pace as much as the lack of it. He mastered the deception of angle, manipulating the depth and breadth of the crease, learned to bowl from different heights and angles, trained to tease, trick and trick batsmen.
Jadeja remains a vastly misinterpreted cricketer. He might flaunt his thoroughbreds and SUVs, the mansions and the royal lineage, but the spirit he embodies is of an aspirational middle-class commoner. His outward brashness made him easy prey for trolls and sarcasm. His bad days on the field were cruelly mocked. He was held the scapegoat of several defeats, especially in the 2010 T20 World. Men of weaker mind would have melted, or vanished, but Jadeja fought.
Suffice it to say that he could breeze into the hypothetical greatest Indian Test eleven of all time. He was not predestined to conquer 300 wickets, but he had a bigger gift, to dream of 300 wickets and chart his own path to the milestone. It is easy to forget that in those early years he was routinely cast by some as overrated and unduly favoured. But now he walks with a halo.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 30-09-2024 at 13:48 IST
