Ravindra Jadeja may not have had a great start to 2015 but he ended that with a spectacular start to the 2015/16 Ranji Trophy and picked up 23 wickets in four Tests against South Africa. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Jadeja attributed his incredible comeback to going to his farmhouse and his "switch off from cricket completely".
"After I got dropped from the team, I came back home and stayed at my farmhouse for about two-and-a-half months," Jadeja said. "I didn't touch bat or ball. I didn't even go to the ground, nothing. I spent time with my horses, which I love off the field."
He also frankly admitted something no one could imagine. The all-rounder's love for horses is common knowledge but he admitted that he was initially "scared of them and wouldn't go close".
"My friend had some horses about 5-6 years ago. Initially, I was quite scared of them and wouldn't go close," he said. "After that, I bought a farm house in Gujarat. He told me then that if you want to keep some horses, I can give you one and you can start with that. I started from there. So he gave me one and said I could horse ride whenever I get the time. I've been interested since and loved it soon after.
"I used to go to my farmhouse whenever I got the time and it helped me switch off from cricket completely. I have six horses now."
Jadeja speaks about his pre-Ranji preparation
A shoulder injury before the 2015 ICC World Cup was followed by poor returns with both bat and ball. But going into the Ranji season, he was determined to win his spot back and he did so in spectacular fashion as he picked up six five-wicket hauls in as many innings and finishing with 37 wickets in 3 matches, thereby earning a recall to the Test side.
"Before the Ranji Trophy season started, I asked my coach, Sitanshu Kotak, that, 'what are you thinking for me? I need to comeback very strongly'. He said, 'no worries, we'll work hard for that'. We worked hard together. He used to come to the ground early, throw me 200-300 balls in the afternoon," he said speaking of his preparation before the season.
"Before the Test match, I played three or four Ranji games and took 37 wickets which gave me good confidence to come back to give my best in the international arena. It was nice. Before that, I wasn't working hard. After I got dropped from the team, I was giving my 100% every time I walked out onto the ground," he added.
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