Ravindra Jadeja: No longer the laughing stock, but a player to be taken seriously

Nowadays, very rarely do you come across a write up about Jadeja without him being projected as superman! Apparently, this has provided a boost to his ever increasing popularity, apart from his really remarkable cricketing skills, which he has successfully demonstrated a number of times. Here are his statistics from the Champions Trophy:

S. No.	Date	Against	Venue	Bowling	Batting
1	6/6/13	South Africa	Cardiff	2 wickets for 31 runs	47 runs
2	11/6/13	West Indies	Oval	5 wickets for 36 runs	Did not bat
3	15/6/13	Pakistan	Birmingham	2 wickets for 30 runs	Did not bat
4	20/6/13	Sri-Lanka	Cardiff	1 wicket for 33 runs	Did not bat

To top it all off, he scored a quickfire 33 in the final, with a spell of 2-24 with the ball.

This man has certainly come a long way! For the most part of the last few months, his mystical powers were hailed on the internet, more in good humour than in actual appreciation. However, his performance in the Champions Trophy has certainly lifted his stature among players and fans alike. His brilliant all-round display has certainly contributed hugely to India’s win.

He had proved his worth to the team already by taking 10 wickets in 4 matches before the final. But the final was the next level for him. Now he can certainly be counted as a reliable ODI bowler for India. Interestingly, his variations proved deadly for established batsmen throughout the tournament. And that too on pitches which were not quite spinning dustbowls (well, not all of them)!

But the utility of Jadeja has been far more than just effective bowling, as being an all-rounder, he is able to strike with the ball as well as the bat. Someone had correctly termed Jadeja as a complete package.

At the same time, he should not be complacent with his bowling as the competition is very intense; not only do you have to take quick wickets, but you also need to contain the run-rate at a fairly reasonable level.

But for the lad from Gujarat, it’s been so far so good, as Jadeja has been able to give very effective results. His left-arm spin bowling and reasonable contributions with the bat, especially while playing in the lower middle order, have been commendable.

Incidentally, this final was the 100th match of the ICC Champions Trophy and Jadeja was able to prove his worth. Jadeja has already won 7 man of the match awards in ODIs, which is remarkable considering his age.

His brilliant performance in this Champions Trophy also seems to indicate that he has considerably improved his line and length, plus he has also shown the right temperament to score for India in tough situations. His knock in the final was highly important, as India was in a dire need of a quick-fire 30, which would give them a defendable score. Additionally, he bowled a superb penultimate over of the innings, which led to the eventual defeat of England.

Thus, the indications are definitely positive, and let us hope that if given a chance, he will strike good consistently, and become a demi-god of Indian cricket (No humour here!).