Ravindra Jadeja rose to fame on English soil 12 years ago. Since then, he has gone back multiple times and returned with bittersweet memories. Here are the reasons why the English fans in the past decade have been in awe of this spunky cricketer who transitioned from a rockstar to a big brother on the tour.
The Jadeja- Anderson Spat- 2014
A year later he returned to England with MS Dhoni's test side and returned to the headlines too with his spat with Jimmy Anderson.
The incident, which occurred during the lunch break in Trent Bridge on day 2, involved allegations of Anderson pushing and abusing Jadeja. Anderson claimed Jadeja had acted aggressively towards him. This led to a Level 3 charge against Anderson by the ICC and a Level 1 charge against Jadeja. But the effects of the incident was felt from Nottingham to Southampton as the whole tour party travelled from North to South of England.
The Bits and Pieces cricketer- 2019
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar kicked up a social media storm by calling Ravi Jadeja a bits and pieces cricketer during the world cup 2019. By this time he was an established cricketer in the Indian set up...
It was during the 2019 ODI World Cup when former India cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar called Ravindra Jadeja a 'bits and pieces' cricketer during India's match against England.
He said during commentary, "I am not a big fan of bits and pieces players which Jadeja is at this point of his career in 50-over cricket. In Test matches, he is a pure bowler. But in 50-over cricket, I would rather have a batsman and a spinner,"
Jadeja's extra practice Birmingham- 2025
He has outlasted his contemporaries - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravi Ashwin and so on this tour of England is a remnant of that golden generation of Indian cricket. Jadeja decided to lead in his own style. He swept aside BCCI's diktat of travelling with the team arrived at Edgbaston on day two of the second Test a lot earlier than his India teammates for some extra batting practice and that clearly worked in his favour as the all-rounder put his team in a strong position alongside double centurion Shubman Gill.
Jadeja Lord's test- 2025
And finally the tragic hero at Lord's on this tour.. He batted for 181 balls and 266 minutes for his 61. Along the way batted with the last 5 batters. But his effort could not ensure an India win in Lords. They fell short by 22 runs on 22 yards.