Journalism of Courage
It was just over 12 months ago that Ravindra Jadeja found himself on the wrong end of the stick,after having made a promising start to his career. His consistency,especially with the bat,had deserted him,and his left-arm spin didn’t seem incisive enough to hold his place in the team as a bowler. It was right here in Visakhatapatnam,on the eve of the second ODI against Australia,that Mahendra Singh Dhoni had lamented about the lack of runs from Jadeja’s bat.
A lot has changed for both Team India and Jadeja in the 12 months since,as international cricket returns to the port city for the second ODI against the West Indies. India will take the field as the world champions and one of the first names in,on the final XI,will be of Jadejas.
Losing his place from the Indian team had come on the back of a year riddled with controversies. He had a nightmarish experience in the West Indies during the World T20. And then was banned from the third edition of the IPL,trying to sign deals outside his contract with Rajasthan Royals. In a way,Jadeja had ended up as an embodiment of all the evil that the IPL seemed to have the potential of generating.
Off-field distractions
Those close to him,insisted on Jadeja had let off-field distractions affect his game. However,it was a determined Jadeja that turned up for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the fourth edition of the IPL. He batted with an added sense of purpose,and his bowling too seemed to have improved drastically. Then came the call to England as a replacement for Gautam Gambhir.
Despite landing in London on the morning of the third ODI at The Oval, he almost guided India to their first victory on tour with a feisty 78 and two wickets. His performances on England’s return tour were even better. Jadeja played crucial cameos,and in tandem with R Ashwin proved more than a handful for the Englishmen,as India sealed a 5-0 cleansweep.
Saurashtras Shitanshu Kotak,and Jadeja’s roommate on tours,insists that missing out on the World Cup made the major difference in his teammates attitude. He was having problems with the short ball. He got rid of it by spending more time working on it during practice sessions. He would get one of the younger boys to hurl balls at him neck-high,so that he could practice his pull-shots, explains Kotak.
Jadeja has been in outstanding form with the ball since his return,averaging 23.93 for his 16 wickets in nine matches. More importantly,hes averaged 38 with the bat this season. At Cuttack,the West Indies tore into him in his first four overs,taking him for 28 runs. But Jadeja proved that he now has the bottle to fight back,conceding only 14 runs in his final six overs,while also dismissing Darren Sammy. And more so,when he joined Rohit Sharma for the match-turning stand of 83.
Following his successes against England,Dhoni had said,He looks more complete right now. And on the face of his performances,Jadeja too seems to have made the complete transformation from the bad-boy with a disturbing attitude to the all-rounder that India have so desperately sought in ODI cricket.
