Ravindra Jadeja Recalls The “Heart-Breaking” Phase Of His Cricket Career
Talking about the dull phase in his career, India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has said that he could not sleep properly for almost 18 months.
Ravindra Jadeja is currently in Mumbai, serving mandatory quarantine period before heading to England. He’ll be one of the team’s most important players throughout the nearly four-month tour, which kicks out on June 18 with the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
The 32-year-old will play for India for the first time since January 2021. Jadeja did not play in the multi-format home series against England due to the thumb injury he sustained on the Australia tour.
However, he made a solid comeback in the now-postponed Indian Premier League’s 14th edition. And who can forget his heroics against Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he single handedly thrashed RCB by 69 runs.
Jadeja smashed 36 off the final over to take CSK to a total of 191/4 after they opted to bat. He then followed it up with a brilliant bowling performance of 3/13, including the big wickets of Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers. As if that was not enough, Jadeja also effected the run-out of Dan Christian with a brilliant direct hit.
The star all-rounder might be seeing a glorious time in his current cricket career but things were not so glittery 2 years ago when he was finding it difficult to even sleep.
Those one-and-a-half Years Were Filled Wih Sleepless Nights: Ravindra Jadeja
Notably, Jadeja was dropped from the ODI and T20I squads as the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal was preferred and in the Tests, Ravichandran Ashwin was playing ahead of him. Jadeja has recently opened up on his thought process during those times.
“Honestly, those one-and-a-half years were filled with sleepless nights. Through that phase, I remember I would be up till 4-5 am. I would be thinking about what to do, how am I going to bounce back? I couldn’t sleep. I would be lying down but jaaga hi rehta tha (would remain awake).
“I was in the Test squad but not playing as we played a lot overseas. I wasn’t playing ODIs. I wasn’t playing domestic too as I would be travelling with the Indian team though not playing. I wasn’t getting any opportunity to prove myself. I would keep thinking about how I am going to come back,” Ravindra Jadeja told The Indian Express.
That Test Changed Everything For Me: Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja batted at No. 8 in the 5th Test against England at the Kennington Oval in 2018, scoring 86 not out off 156 balls as India chased England’s first-innings 332. When the southpaw came to bat, India had lost six wickets for 160 runs and were looking in a big trouble.
Despite his knock, India conceded the first-innings lead and lost the match by 188 runs, and the five-Test series 1-4 to England.
Speaking about that Test, Jadeja revealed how that series changed everything, including his game, and performance for him. He also revealed how his confidence boosted after performing we in English conditions.
“That Test changed everything for me, poora (complete) game — my performance, my confidence, everything. When you score in English conditions against the best bowling attack, it greatly impacts your confidence. It makes you feel your technique is good enough to score anywhere in the world,” he told.
“Later, Hardik Pandya got injured and I made my ODI comeback. From then on, my game has been going well, touchwood.”
