CG Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 The fall of the second wicket. A diminutive batsman from western India, face hidden inside the helmet, walks out to bat. He’s the team’s fulcrum, an attacking batsman who has all the shots in the book and isn’t afraid to play them. His favourite, especially off the faster men? The straight drive. No, we’re not speaking of Sachin Tendulkar. Although Kedar Jadhav is two degrees of separation away from Tendulkar – and not just in terms of the longitude that separates Mumbai, Tendulkar’s home, and Pune, Jadhav’s residence. The man he wants to emulate – Virender Sehwag – had Tendulkar as his role model. With a chart-topping 1074 runs in Ranji Trophy 2013-14, Jadhav has been the prime mover in taking Maharashtra to the final, where they’ll face Karnataka from January 29. The man whose game seemed ideally built for limited-overs cricket – he has a List A average of 51.12 and a strike-rate of 106.36 – has cracked the longer format code, particularly in the last two seasons. “I have always enjoyed playing one-dayers and Twenty20s,†Jadhav tells Wisden India. “From last year, I started enjoying the four-day format too. I know one thing about my game: whenever I get convinced that I can enjoy something, I will do well. I stay fully involved and interested then, and can deliver the maximum results. “At the start, I wasn’t so used to four-day cricket. But now, this is my seventh year, and there was this question mark over my ability to play four-day cricket. I’ve been playing for so many years and didn’t have that many centuries. Many people told me this is where I’m lacking. If I do this part well – play well in Ranji Trophy – then I can play for India. I thought that since I don’t have enough centuries in Ranji Trophy, people might think I can’t bat for long periods. So I decided that henceforth, I’ll do well in four-dayers also and remain consistent, so that nobody can come and tell me ‘you are lacking here’.†The national selectors have taken note. Jadhav was among the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy 2013, and, though he didn’t make the cut for the final 15, he’s now also in the probables for the World Twenty20 2014 in March. “Being selected in the probables for the Champions Trophy gave me a lot of confidence, and that confidence has shown in my batting. If you’re close to playing for India, you have to show people that, yes, you are ready. In the last year and a half, I’ve been scoring runs in all formats, whether it’s Ranji Trophy, one-day cricket or Twenty20s. I knew that if I keep scoring runs consistently, it (a call-up) will come.†There’s no false modesty or a lack of confidence in Jadhav’s assessment of his abilities, or the actual act of batting, regardless of format. “It comes naturally,†says Jadhav of his confidence and instinct to dominate. “I am a big fan of Salman Khan. He never cares about anything, he just goes out and does what he wants. So I just want to be like that. When I’m batting, it’s my thing. I own this area and I’ll play what I want.†A sort of bhai of the pitch then? “Yes, you can say that! I want to be. I want it to be that when I’m on the pitch, I’ll control how this game runs when I bat.†When it’s put to him that the king of swagger and confidence at the crease was Viv Richards, Jadhav chimes in with: “You’re not the first one telling me that Viv used to bat like that. When we play against Gujarat, Parthiv (Patel, a good friend) is the keeper, and he always sledges me like that. He tells his bowlers and fielders, ‘Come on guys, now we have to be cautious. Viv is here.’†It’s not all about swagger and confidence with Jadhav though. He’s aware, for example, that he has to work on his defence against fast bowling “particularly on seaming tracks where the ball moves a bit. You have to get a good stride and leave many balls alone. I am working on that.†It’s not all about swagger with Jadhav though. He’s aware, for example, that he has to work on his defence against fast bowling. © Wisden India It’s not all about swagger with Jadhav though. He’s aware, for example, that he has to work on his defence against fast bowling. © Wisden India There has also been a subtle but important shift in his long-format game that started last season and has been particularly evident now. “I basically left more balls alone,†explains Jadhav. “Earlier, I used to play at too many deliveries that I could have left alone. Now I take more time, because I want to bat longer. Our coach, (Surendra) Bhave sir, kept telling me that, given the amount of talent I possess, I have to score big runs, and that too consistently. He has been there for more than ten years, and he’s always asked me to score big runs. I was always very flashy and, after 60 or 70, I used to throw away my wicket. From the last year, when I scored a triple hundred [Jadhav hit 327 off 312 balls against Uttar Pradesh in November 2012 in Pune], I got the belief and realised I could score big runs, and at a good strike rate. Then, I just wanted to make it big every time I went in to bat.†The match in which Jadhav’s newfound patience paid off most spectacularly was the quarterfinal against Mumbai, a game he said was amongst “the toughest ones†he had been in. Faced with a 252-run target in the fourth innings against Zaheer Khan and co, Jadhav hit 120 not out to anchor a famous chase. “At the start I focussed on taking it ball by ball,†he says of how the innings developed. “Their plan was to make me fiddle outside the offstump on the back foot, so that I could edge the ball. I realised that from the outside, when I saw the other batsmen batting. So my plan was clear before I went out to bat, not to play outside the offstump and play on the back foot only if it was bouncing. I was ready to leave the ball on the stumps also, if it was going to bounce over the wickets. My basic plan was just to leave alone as many deliveries as I could. And as the pitch gets slower and bowlers get tired, I’d get scoring opportunities. I’m happy I could stick to that plan.†The big stage called for a more careful approach and study from outside the boundary too, but on normal occasions, Jadhav adopts a stick-to-basics approach. “Until you don’t get in, and the bowler doesn’t start his run-up, your game hasn’t started. I have a basic plan beforehand of how to play, and I fix that and leave it. You have to face pressure inside anyway, why take it outside too?†There’s more from the Sehwag school of batting. “When a batsman walks into the middle, his only aim is to score runs. It doesn’t matter if you’re scoring that off the first ball or the 100th ball. If the ball is there to be hit, you have to hit it.†It’s an attitude developed from Jadhav’s early years of playing with a tennis ball, in matches that had very few overs, so “you had to get going from ball one, so that’s my natural game nowâ€. The shift to making his passion his vocation happened after Jadhav completed the 10th standard. Regular practice in Pune’s Deccan Gymkhana club, alongside more established players, convinced the young batsman that he was as good as them, and could hope to be better. Though he took up leather-ball cricket late, Jadhav, 28, doesn’t consider himself a late bloomer. “I got lots of opportunities, but wasted half of them. You have to suffer the consequences if you do that. However, now I’m converting all of them, so it’s fine. And if you see teams outside [the subcontinent], players get selected at 28-29. They have good experience by then after playing for seven-eight seasons at the first-class level. So I take it in that way, that I’m the complete package now, with experience, all the shots in my armoury and good quality defence.†Having benefitted from opportunities, Jadhav knows the value of backing talent to eventually deliver. “I know what it takes to score runs at any level, and if you want to play internationally, you can’t be scared,†he says. “You’re going to war, so you can’t really expect the opponent to not try to hurt you. So far, I have got whatever I wanted to achieve. Some things might have come slightly later, but after getting to that goal, I never came backwards, I stayed there. So if I play for India, I wish I’ll be doing it till I retire. That is what my aim is and that is how my career has shaped up.†http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-article/salman-khan-jadhav/95760
G_B_ Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 better start opening then... deserves a run IMO in place of Raina. but pigs will fly before that happens
CG Posted January 25, 2014 Author Posted January 25, 2014 better start opening then... deserves a run IMO in place of Raina. but pigs will fly before that happens Not seen him yet,But many guys are saying he is good.He has get away from salamn khan movies .
CG Posted January 25, 2014 Author Posted January 25, 2014 Nobody can be like sehwag . Actually he said he wants to be like salman khan.:hysterical:.Shewag,Viv are his rolemodels.
saneindian Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 After a mammoth domestic season, needs that one big IPL season to grab the limelight. Will not be long though before he plays for India. Hopefully can score again in Ranji Trophy finals an win the match for Maharashtra.
SLICKR392 Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 He wasn't that great in the IPL. Looked brilliant in the chase against Mumbai, watched the HLs.
Lord Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 Not seen him yet' date='But many guys are saying he is good.He has get away from salamn khan movies .[/quote'] He looks very good,is in total control against spinners and can play short stuff
G_B_ Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 After a mammoth domestic season, needs that one big IPL season to grab the limelight. Will not be long though before he plays for India. Hopefully can score again in Ranji Trophy finals an win the match for Maharashtra. he is 28 dude. time is running out for him..... Maybe he can make the side in the odis as back up keeper. cant see more than that.
Lord Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 he is 28 dude. time is running out for him..... Maybe he can make the side in the odis as back up keeper. cant see more than that. 28 is not all that old if hes fit enough.
G_B_ Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 28 is not all that old if hes fit enough. well he appears to be fit. Ie not carrying any baggage. From what i saw of him in the Daredevils in the IPL, he did a decent job with the gloves and also played some good hands in a struggling side. The least they can do is select him for A tours. There is a lot of potential in this maharashtra side in general. It made no sense why Pune IPL did not invest in players like Zol and Jadhav.
saneindian Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 he is 28 dude. time is running out for him..... Maybe he can make the side in the odis as back up keeper. cant see more than that. Is a late bloomer as well, Made his debut in the 2007-08 season. TBH he has been in Challenger Squads earlier, couldn't do much. DD didn't show much confidence in him either. With his Ranji form, will be the man to watch in the domestic one dayers and IPL.
TNAmarkFrmIndia Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 Looking at the guys they've been picking for the Indian side - Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma and others, it's obvious that only a good performance in IPL will truly get you noticed.
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