It is the Sunday, 15th of January 2017 and this is the first of India’s 3 ODIs against England in the series. India are batting first, but not quite the way it would have liked. In fact India are struggling big time at 63/4 with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni back in the pavilion.
Skipper Virat Kohli is struggling and that’s when Kedar Jadhav, the local boy at Pune, joins Kohli and makes the stage, and the day his own scoring a rapid 120 from 76 balls taking India’s total to a mammoth 356, in the process inspiring millions like us to follow our own conviction and making us belief in the notion that dreams do come true if backed by courage, determination and hard work. Jadhav's greatest gift was the presence of his parents during his man of the match performance.
India vs England 1st ODI: Blazing tons from Captain Kohli, Jadhav help India chase 351
Belonging to a very small town of Madha in Solapur district of Maharashtra, Jadhav didn’t have a very luxurious childhood. His father was a clerk in the State Electricity Board and he had three elder sisters who were brilliant students. Unlike them, Jadhav was uninterested in education and never went school after ninth grade. Initially, Jadhav represented a local cricket club in Pune and performed consistently well over the years. As a result, he was selected for Maharashtra’s U-19 Team way back in 2004, a year after India’s World Cup final exit. Jadhav for most part of his career remained an underdog in the team which maybe helped him focus on the game and evolve as a player who would quietly do the job for the team.
It took Jadhav hours and days and months and years of practice to rise in the domestic format. It was in 2012, 8 years after he had been selected for the state Under 19s that eventually his hard work paid off in style. He made his first triple century (327), the second highest by a Maharashtra batsman ever in domestic cricket. In the following Ranji Season of 2013-2014, Jadhav emerged as the League’s top run scorer with over 1200 runs, including 6 centuries. As a result, he was picked by the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL which he represented till 2015 when he was picked by his present franchise RCB.
Jadhav didn’t give up, it is so easy to give up on hope when you have reached the age of 30 and haven’t played a game for the national team. Jadhav let his performances talk for him and forced the selectors to notice him after his outstanding performances at all platforms he earned for himself. Finally, in 2014 he was picked in the squad for the Bangladesh series but didn’t get a game and later made his debut in the same year against Sri Lanka.
Jadhav’s journey is a fairytale which many middle class Indians from same or similar backgrounds want to live. We all can be Jadhavs in our own field provided we do whatever it takes to reach there, and imbibe the virtues of boundless patience and utmost dedication.
