Ajay Jadeja

Ajaysinhji Jadeja^[1] (pronunciation^ⓘ born 1 February 1971), known as Ajay Jadeja, is an Indian former professional cricketer, who was a regular member of the Indian cricket team in the One Day International (ODI) format between 1992 and 2000. He played 15 Test matches and 196 ODIs for India. He also occasionally captained the India national cricket team. Presently, Jadeja is working with the Afghanistan cricket team as the team mentor.^[2]

Ajay Jadeja

Jadeja in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Ajaysinhji Daulatsinhji Jadeja
Born	(1971-02-01) 1 February 1971 (age 53) Jamnagar, Gujarat, India
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	All-rounder
Relations	Daulatsinhji Jadeja (father) Chatrapalsinhji (uncle)
International information
National side	India (1992–2000)
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
ODI shirt no.	3
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1988–1999	Haryana
2000	Jammu and Kashmir
2003–2004	Delhi
2005–2007	Rajasthan
2013	Haryana
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 15 196 111 291 Runs scored 576 5,359 8,100 8,304 Batting average 26.18 37.47 54.00 37.91 100s/50s 0/4 6/30 20/40 11/48 Top score 96 119 264 119 Balls bowled 0 1,248 4,703 2,681 Wickets – 20 54 49 Bowling average – 54.70 39.62 46.10 5 wickets in innings – 0 0 0 10 wickets in match – 0 0 0 Best bowling – 3/3 4/37 3/3 Catches/stumpings 5/– 59/– 73/– 93/1
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 9 January 2018

Due to his alleged involvement in match fixing, on 3 June 2000 Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) life banned him from cricket, later they reduced it to 5 years. On 27 January 2003, Delhi court lifted his ban. However he was never able to play again for Indian cricket team.^[3]

After he quit playing cricket, he worked as coach of Delhi cricket team around 2015, in 2000s he acted in few Bollywood movies, appeared as contestant in dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and worked as pundit for SET Max, AajTak, NDTV India etc. various times.^[4][5][6]

Personal life

Jadeja was born into an erstwhile Nawanagar royal family.^[7][8] 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. Jadeja's Father Daulatsinhji Jadeja was a 3 time Member of Parliament from Jamnagar Loksabha. His mother is a native of Alappuzha in Kerala.^[9] Jadeja is married to Aditi Jaitly, the daughter of Jaya Jaitly and the couple have two children, Aiman and Ameera.

He began his schooling at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, New Delhi. He was subsequently sent to a Rajkumar College in Rajkot. He did not like boarding school, and in a particular year he ran away from there 13 times. He finally settled down at the Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi, from where he completed his schooling. He met Aditi Jaitly here. He later went for higher studies to Hindu College, Delhi.^[6]

International 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 In Bengaluru against arch rivals Pakistan when he scored 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 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 favorite 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.

Match-fixing scandal

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 was back playing Ranji in 2003.

After cricket

In 2015, Jadeja was appointed as the main coach for Delhi cricket team but he resigned from the post.^[5] He worked as a cricket commentator and pundit for SET Max during number of Indian Premier League seasons. He worked as cricket expert- analyst for news channels such as NDTV, Aajtak etc.

In September 2023, ACB Appointed Ajay Jadeja as Afghanistan's assistant coach/mentor for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. Afghanistan went on to win four matches in the tournament, including wins against giants like England and Pakistan as well as a shockingly narrow game against the year's winners, Australia, a stark difference from their winless campaign in 2019. Numerous ex-cricketers have suggested that their newfound victories were largely credited to Jadeja's influence^[10][11] and the Afghanistan team also expressed gratitude for the impact he had on them.^[12][13]

Filmography

Jadeja acted in the 2003 movie Khel with Sunny Deol and Sunil Shetty. He also acted in the 2009 movie, Pal Pal Dil Ke Ssaat, directed by V.K.Kumar.^[4]

Jadeja was a contestant on the celebrity dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa in its first season. He has been appeared on the TV show Comedy Circus, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge as a guest.^[14]

He did a cameo in Abhishek Kapoor's film Kai Po Che!^[15] acting as himself in a cricket commentator role.

References

1. "Ajay Jadeja, Cricket players". ESPNcricinfo.
2. "Cricket World Cup Ajay Jadeja named Afg's team mentor". www.indianexpress.com.
3. "Renamed Ajay Jadeja..." www.midday.com.
4. "Pal Pal Dil Ke Saath – The Times of India". The Times of India.
5. "Ajay Jadeja quits as Delhi coach". ESPNcricinfo. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
6. "Ajay Jadeja: The good, the bad & the ugly. undefined News - Times of India". The Times of India. 12 January 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
7. The Journal of Indo-judaic Studies, Volumes 1–4. Society for Indo-Judaic Studies. 1998. p. 95.
8. "I am suffering irreparably: Ajay Jadeja Ajay Jadeja studied in the esteemed Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi". Times of India. 7 January 2003. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
9. "'അജയ് ഭായ് നമസ്‌കാരം, സുഖമാണല്ലോ അല്ലേ' ജഡേജയോട് മലയാളത്തില്‍ സഞ്ജു; മറുപടിയും മലയാളത്തില്‍!". Mathrubhumi (in Malayalam). 29 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
10. HT Sports Desk. "Sachin Tendulkar gives 'Jadeja' twist to Afghanistan's 'outstanding' performance vs Pakistan at World Cup". Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
11. TOI Sports Desk. "ICC World Cup: Sachin Tendulkar, Shoaib Malik hail Ajay Jadeja as the 'great cricketing mind' helping Afghanistan". Times Of India. Times of India. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
12. "World Cup 2023: Afghanistan batter thanks former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja for win against England". Wio News. Wio News. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
13. HT Sports Desk. "Trott credits Ajay Jadeja for Afghanistan's power show in World Cup". The Hindu. The Hindu. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
14. Page 84 of Ajay Jadeja, Roshni Chopra on the sets of Comedy Circus, Ajay Jadeja, Roshni Chopra on the sets of Comedy Circus Photos
15. . Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2012.

• 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 5 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ajay Jadeja.

• Ajay Jadeja at ESPNcricinfo

v t e Descendants of Jivansinhji
Jivansinhji 1846–1916 Devisinhji 1865–? Ranjitsinhji^[i] 1872–1933 Juvansinhji 1875–1942 Dilawarsinhji 1883–1930 Mohansinhji 1886–1941 Savaisinhji 1889–? Rajendrasinhji 1899–1964 Pratapsinhji^[ii] 1893–? Digvijaysinhji^[ii] 1895–1966 Himmatsinhji^[ii] 1897–1973 Duleepsinhji^[i] 1905–1959 Vikramsinhji^[ii] Sukhdevsinhji^[ii] 1936– Daulatsinhji 1935– Chatrapalsinhji^[ii] 1936–2009 Shatrusalyasinhji^[ii] 1939– Madhavsinhji Dajirajsinhji 1891–1917 Ajaysinhji^[i] 1971– Indravijaysinhji^[ii] 1915–1981 Ranvirsinhji^[ii] 1919–1962 Indrajitsinhji^[i] 1937–2011 Yadvendrasinhji^[ii] 1916–?
Notes: Test cricketers First-class cricketers Jam Sahibs of Nawanagar are underlined.