Jadeja and modern day royalty
Sandeep Dwivedi, writing for the Indian Express, explores the lesser known side of Ravindra Jadeja
15-Sep-2013
Ravindra Jadeja, who hails from the same area as the legendary Ranjitsinhji, is an allrounder who has forced his way into the Indian side in all three formats, climbed to No.1 in the ICC bowling charts, and earns millions at the IPL. He's also a humble man, a doting brother, and a selfless individual trying to overcome a childhood tragedy, says Sandeep Dwivedi in the Indian Express, who after visiting Jadeja's farmhouse in Jamnagar, reveals how the player developed an interest for the game.
Very early in life, Jadeja realised cricket was a wise investment and would get him things he yearned for. He would play "winners take all" games where the better team would take home the kitty formed by the equal contribution from all 22 players. Most times, the winning XI would share Rs 22 and Jadeja would double his investment. The dividend would be enough to get him several long polythene flutes filled with iced water. He loved them. "That was our Pepsi," he says with a smile. When he failed to convince his father to part with the one-rupee he needed to be part of the matches, he would rush to the nurse station at the government hospital where his mother worked. "She would never refuse," says Jadeja. From accompanying Jadeja to outstation games, talking to his coaches and asking other team members to keep an eye on her prankster son, the overworked nurse tried her best to be a cricket mom too.