The roller-coaster ride that is Ravindra Jadeja’s career took yet another turn on Monday when he was recalled to the Test side for the series against South Africa, after being dropped for the Bangladesh and Sri Lanka series. It’s been 14 months since he last played a Test — against England in Manchester in August 2014. But he has started off the current season with a bang, scalping 24 wickets at 8.25 and scoring 149 runs in the two innings that he batted for Saurashtra in Ranji Trophy and that proved to be the catalyst for his selection.
In an interview with BCCI.TV, Jadeja described how he switched off from cricket for some time and then brought his focus back to cricket.
“Couple of months before the start of the season, after I played my last ODI in Bangladesh, I stayed away from cricket. I didn’t go anywhere near a ground or bat or ball, or (do) anything related to cricket,” Jadeja said.
“I had decided that I have to start the Ranji season afresh. I had decided to switch my mind off cricket and so got involved in other activities. I spent time at my farm house with my horses and spent time with my friends,” he added.
A month ahead of the Ranji season, Jadeja got his total focus back on cricket and worked on his strengths. He wanted to get as much match practice as possible, and ended up playing district-level matches too. Luckily, he got his timing right and started off in a blistering fashion in the Ranji Trophy just before India-South Africa series.
Jadeja said that he hasn’t made any major adjustments to his game, apart from working on his shot selection and execution.
“No, I haven’t changed much of anything. I believe that if I strengthen my natural game, develop my skills further, it would help me,” Jadeja told BCCI.TV.
“While batting sometimes I would be in double-minds as to which shot I have to pick; whether I should hit or not hit. So that is what I was thinking about when I was playing in the Ranji Trophy… that I should have a simple plan. Whatever shot I want to play I should be able to do it single-mindedly. When I make a decision and bat I have to commit 100 percent and play the shot.” He added.
In last 22 months, Jadeja has had a tough time in Tests; in the six matches he has played since 1 January, 2014, he has averaged 56.41 at a strike rate of 122.5 and averaged 25.90 with the bat in Tests. He eventually lost his place in the limited overs side too after mediocre performance.
Jadeja admitted that there have been times when he took it a bit casually.
“You can’t relax when you are playing for India. There have been times when I felt that I don’t need to work as sab achha chal raha hai.” Jadeja told . “Similarly, there have been times when we just pray that somehow I do well and return to form. These are the stages every cricketer has to goes through. During the World Cup, I was literally praying ki yeh match achha jaye so that I get my confidence. I can’t write the future, but I know the present lies in my hands.”