Rags to riches through the IPL

Ravindra Jadeja's jackpot at the IPL auctions makes him the latest in a list of small-town cricketers to strike it rich, literally overnight. The Indian Express profiles the stories of some of the IPL's nouveau riche.

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.