Ajay Jadeja

Ajay Jadeja

Personal information
Born	1 February 1971 Jamnagar, Gujarat, India
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm medium
Role	Batsman
Relations	Chatrapalsinhji (uncle)
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 196)	13 November 1992 v South Africa
Last Test	26 February 2000 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 85)	28 February 1992 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	3 June 2000 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1988/89–1998/99 & 2013	Haryana
1999/00, 2003/04–2004/05	Jammu and Kashmir
2005/06–2006/07	Rajasthan
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs FC List A Matches 15 196 109 291 Runs scored 576 5359 8046 8304 Batting average 26.18 37.47 55.10 37.91 100s/50s 0/4 6/30 20/40 11/48 Top score 96 119 264 119 Balls bowled 0 1248 4703 2681 Wickets  – 20 54 49 Bowling average  – 54.70 39.62 46.10 5 wickets in innings  – 0 0 0 10 wickets in match  – n/a 0 n/a Best bowling  – 3/3 4/37 3/3 Catches/stumpings 5/– 59/– 73/– 93/1
Source: CricketArchive, 30 September 2008.

Ajay Jadeja ^[1] ( pronunciation ) was born on 1 February 1971 in Jamnagar, Gujarat in Jadeja family linked with rulers of Nawanagar. He was a regular in the Indian cricket team between 1992 and 2000, playing in 15 Test matches and 196 One Day Internationals. His cricketing achievements were overshadowed by a 5-year ban for match-fixing. The ban was later quashed by the Delhi High Court on 27 January 2003, making Jadeja eligible to play domestic and international cricket. He was most remembered for hitting and quick finishing of the overs in late 1990s.

Early life

Jadeja was born into a Nawanagar royal family^[2][3] which has a cricketing pedigree. His relatives include K. S. Ranjitsinhji, after whom the Ranji Trophy is named, and K. S. Duleepsinhji, for whom the Duleep Trophy is named.

Career

Jadeja was a regular in the Indian cricket team between 1992 and 2000, playing 15 Test matches and 196 One Day Internationals. He was regarded as one of the best fielders in the Indian team in his time. One of his most memorable innings was his cameo in the 1996 Cricket World Cup quarter-final against arch rivals Pakistan when he blasted 45 off 25 balls, including 40 from the final two overs by Waqar Younis. Jadeja, along with Mohammed Azharuddin, holds the record for the highest one day partnership record for the 4th and 5th wicket, set against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka respectively. Jadeja was also renowned for his remarkable fielding, and was considered one of the safest pair of hands in the Indian team during his tenure.

Another memorable occasion of his career was taking 3 wickets for 3 runs in 1 over against England in Sharjah to win the match for India. Jadeja has captained India in 13 One-day matches. One of Jadeja's favourite hunting grounds was the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, the venue of the quarter-final against Pakistan in the 1996 World Cup. The last time Jadeja played in a One Day International was against Pakistan in the Pepsi Asia Cup on 3 June 2000. He scored 93 in a game that India eventually lost. Jadeja was the top scorer hitting 8 fours and 4 sixes.

Jadeja's cricketing achievements were later overshadowed by a 5-year ban for match-fixing. The ban was later quashed by the Delhi High Court on 27 January 2003, making Jadeja eligible to play domestic and international cricket. Jadeja had approached the Delhi High Court on 2 February 2001, challenging the BCCI order imposing the five-year ban on the basis of the K. Madhavan Committee recommendations. He is back playing Ranji in 2013.

In 2015, Jadeja was appointed as the main coach for Delhi cricket team but he resigned from the post.^[4] Jadeja is currently a cricket commentator.

Television and film appearances

Jadeja acted in the 2003 movie Khel with Sunny Deol and Sunil Shetty. He also acted in the 2009 movie, Pal Pal Dil Ke Saath, directed by V Krishna Kumar.^[5]

Jadeja worked for Zee News as a cricket anchor, along with Zaheer Abbas, the former Pakistan cricket captain, during the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup. He reprised the role for the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup. Later, he signed to work as a cricket analyst with NDTV India and NDTV 24*7.

Ajay Jadeja was a contestant on the celebrity dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa in its first season. He also appeared on the TV show Comedy Circus.^[6]

He did a cameo in Abhishek Kapoor's film Kai Po Che!^[7] acting as himself in a cricket commentator role .

Personal life

Ajay Jadeja is married to Aditi Jaitly, the daughter of Jaya Jaitly and the couple have two children, Aiman and Ameera.

References

1. "Ajay Jadeja, Cricket players". ESPN Cricinfo.
2. The Journal of Indo-judaic Studies , Volumes 1–4. Society for Indo-Judaic Studies. 1998. p. 95.
3. "I am suffering irreparably: Ajay Jadeja". Times of India. 7 January 2003. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
4. "Ajay Jadeja quits as Delhi coach". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
5. "Pal Pal Dil Ke Saath – The Times of India". The Times of India.
6. Page 84 of Ajay Jadeja, Roshni Chopra on the sets of Comedy Circus, Ajay Jadeja, Roshni Chopra on the sets of Comedy Circus Photos

• Ajay Jadeja, Sanjeev Kapoor to put on their dancing shoes on Sony
• I admire the way Ajay deals with everything: Aditi Jaitly
• I’ll keep trying: Ajay Jadeja
• All-rounder, on and off field

External links

• Player profile: Ajay Jadeja from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Ajay Jadeja from CricketArchive