"Sir" Ravindra Jadeja: The transition from an internet joke to a genuine match winner

Ravindra Jadeja: A name that has been associated with innumerable jokes over the last few years. A perennial scapegoat, he has often been blamed for many defeats. A man who has his own brand of trolls and memes on the internet that has equated him with the likes of Chuck Norris and Rajnikanth. His place in the Indian team has often come under scrutiny from many quarters. The media has often attributed his place to favouritism by Dhoni.

But the questions that begs to be asked is: Is this criticism justified? Over the last calendar year of cricket, Ravindra Jadeja has proven to be a valuable asset to both Team India and his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. His performance in the recent Test series against Australia was superlative to say the least. His left-arm spin bamboozled the Aussies and he ended up with a haul of 24 wickets. In ODIs, his hard hitting towards the end of the innings has proven invaluable as demonstrated yesterday in the Champions Trophy opener against South Africa. He then came on to bowl at a crucial period of the game when South Africa looked to be in control and went on to take two wickets. His smart fielding also led to the run-out of Robin Peterson who had looked in complete control until that point.

The lad from Saurashtra has come from very humble beginnings and was thrust into the spotlight at quite a young age. His performance for Rajasthan Royals in the first edition of IPL made people stand up and take notice of him. But a ban in 2010 hampered his progress in the tournament. In the 2012 player auctions, he was eventually bought by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping 2 crore rupees. Jaws dropped all over India when it was found that the Chennai and Hyderabad franchises were locked in a titanic bidding war for his signature. Nobody could believe that the ‘ridiculed one’ could command such a price. But some match winning contributions over the next two editions of the tournament for CSK has led to the silencing of those critics.

Not many people will know that at first class level, Ravindra Jadeja has excelled greatly. He has hit three first class triple hundreds, a rare feat which puts him in the company of stalwarts like Don Bradman, Brian Lara, Bill Ponsford, Walter Hammond, WG Grace, Graeme Hick and Mike Hussey, who achieved this feat earlier. Not bad company at all. He was also part of the victorious 2008 U-19 World Cup squad that lifted the cup in Malaysia.

Put all these things into perspective and you cannot help but applaud the youngster for his grit and determination. From being an internet joke and sarcastically being called “Sir” Ravindra Jadeja, he has now carved a niche for himself in the Indian cricket team. One can only hope that he takes the numerous chances he has got and convert them into many more match winning performances for India.

With Yuvraj not getting any younger, a new all-rounder will be needed if India are to defend the World Cup in 2015. Ravindra Jadeja may not be that figure at the moment but with a bit of patience and guidance, he could blossom into the all-rounder we need.