The energy that India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja displays on the field is at a different level. To the extent that he landed in Mumbai after a long flight from the West Indies on Wednesday and straightaway fulfilled his sponsor commitments lasting at least three hours.
He did say that he was “obviously tired after a long flight” but he did not show that tiredness on his face or in obliging the media interview requests.
Jadeja’s energy levels are something different. So much so that he said light-heartedly pointing to her wife holding their daughter Nidhyana: “My child is one month old and my wife says that she is so active like a six-month old. I told her that there was no need to do a DNA test on her.”
In the same vein, the 28-year-old from Saurashtra said: “Fitness is very important to any sportsperson. The body is everything. Working out at a young age is very important. The more you work out, the longer you can go in your career.”
It was probably for the first time that he saw his daughter on Wednesday as he was away in England when the child was born. Yet, he managed to squeeze in as much as possible to spend time with his family in between the sponsor obligations.
“It feels good,” he said about fatherhood. “Being a father is a responsibility. It is a responsibility to play for India and win. Now, family is a responsibility. Whatever happens in life, you become a very responsible person.
“Earlier, whenever I was home, I used to get bored not knowing what to do. Now, I have now got a doll to play with. I will have good time pass. The more time I spend with her, the more attachedI will become with her. Everyone at home is happy.”
Jadeja said it was difficult to concentrate in the first two days when he was away in England for Champions Trophy. “Then I thought that very few get a chance to play for India. And I am one of them. It was important to also try and win matches for the country as there are folks at home to take care of the child,” he said.
Jadeja is living a dream that millions of Indians aspire for – to play for the country. “It was very tough to play for India, especially from where I come – Jamnagar. Though it had its history of players representing India in the past, it had no proper facilities. I had to do everything myself on Saturdays and Sundays to play cricket, like preparing the pitch and paying for the ball. It was not so difficult in other cities. These things motivated me and I wanted to play in blue clothing. At that time, I did not know about white clothing,” Jadeja said.
Nor did Jadeja know or realise in the first IPL what ‘Rockstar’ meant when he was given that name by his captain at Rajasthan Royals, the Australian spin great Shane Warne.
“I did not know what Rockstar meant, now did I know that Warne was a great bowler in Test cricket. I used to wonder why I was being called a Rockstar as I did not sing any song. A friend said that I was given that name as I put too much zinc on my face. I was only focussed on improving my skills and was not worried about anything.”
While he felt that Test cricket and T20 format had its place in the sport, he felt that the shortest format was is the popular version today. “Today, nobody has time to watch cricket. In three-and-a-half hours, you get a full game of T20. People are not interested in singles, they want only fours and sixes. That’s why the fan following for T20 has increased,” Jadeja, the No. 1 Test bowler, said.
With the full tour to Sri Lanka the next immediate assignment for Jadeja, the left-hander said: “Sri Lanka will be challenging. I like to perform when there are challenges. If you get easy pitches and if the game becomes very easy, there is no satisfaction. When you fight and perform in challenging situations, that has its own fun.”
With the new support staff under coach Ravi Shastri and bowling consultant Zaheer Khan to take Indian cricket forward, Jadeja was optimistic.
“The good thing is that whatever new experience is added to the team, it is good for us. Hopefully, whoever new comes in the team, they will share their experiences and we will get to learn from them. Cricket is such a sport that you get to learn something from someone everyday. I will also try to learn from their experiences by talking to them.”
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