Rags to riches through the IPL

Those close to Jadeja remember the more difficult times. He lost his mother Lata in 2005 in an accident; the trauma affected him so much that he wanted to quit cricket. His coach Mahendra Singh Chauhan made sure Jadeja stayed focussed. After India won the Under-19 World Cup in 2008, came the first shower of riches for Jadeja, who was the vice-captain of the team: Rs 15 lakh from the BCCI, a Rs 25,000 monthly salary from Reliance for the next three years, and a Rs 20 lakh contract for two years for IPL-1. “With money, life has certainly improved. It makes you and your family secure,” Jadeja says. He went on to play for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL-1 and was bought by the Kochi Tuskers in the third edition of the league for nearly a million dollars, though he never got to play that tournament. Since then, his net worth has climbed steadily.