Ajay Jadeja Biography:
It is very difficult to explain the kind of cricket Ajay Jadeja used to play but, he can be called as Dhoni of the 1990s. He would come on to the crease to bat at No.6 or 7 and would smash the bowlers. He was given the difficult job of finishing matches for team India.
Ajay Jadeja Biography unfolds everything in his career.
Ajay Jadeja Family:
Ajay Jadeja was born on 1st February, 1971 in Jamnagar, Gujarat. He was born in the Rajput family, Ajay Jadeja Parents are Daulatsinh Jadeja and Gyanba Jadeja. He is the only child of his parents.
He got married to his current wife Aditi Jaitley in 2000, Ajay Jadeja Wife and the superstar were blessed with a son named Aiman Jadeja and a daughter Ameera Jadeja.
Career:
Ajay Jadeja is one of the prominent Indian cricket team members from the back ’90s, in his days the superstar has represented the Indian national team in more than 150+ One day international matches and also played a couple of Tests matches.
Ajay Jadeja has played total eight years of cricket for the team and later in his career his name got involved in match fixing scandal and he was banned for five years by the BCCI.
Domestic career:
Although Ajay Jadeja was born and brought up in Gujarat, he never played domestic cricket for Gujarat. He made his first-class debut in 1988, as he played for Haryana. After making his first-class debut, he got a chance to play for India in 1992.
His stats in first class cricket are mind boggling as he has played 111 matches and scored close to 9000 runs including 20 centuries at an average of 54.0
Test career:
Ajay Jadeja who had always been an aggressive batsman was first called to play One Day Internationals for India and later in November, 1992 he also made his International Test debut against South Africa. Unfortunately, he got out for 3 runs in the first innings and did not bat in the second innings.
He was an aggressive player and his career flow also started going in the same way. He started playing many more One Day games as compared to Test matches. His best performance in Test match cricket came in 1995 against New Zealand as he scored crucial half-centuries in both innings of the Test match as India won the match by 8 wickets in a nail-biting encounter.
Another good performance of Jadeja came in 1997 against West Indies. Ajay Jadeja scored a brilliant 96 runs before he unfortunately got out while taking a run. Due to his brilliant innings, India drew the match against West Indies at Antigua.
In his career spanning from 1992 to 2000, he played only 15 Test matches as he was always being characterized as a proper attacking One Day International player. In his 15 Test matches he has scored 576 runs including 4 half centuries without scoring a century at an average of 26.18.
One Day career:
Ajay Jadeja made his One Day debut against Sri Lanka in World Cup 1992. He did not get to bat in his debut game. He played his next match against Australia, two days after his first match.
He got out for only 1 run against Australia. In his 3rd match against Pakistan he scored 46 runs off 77 balls after opening the innings for India. India won the match comfortably by 43 runs.
In his early career, he used to open the innings for the Indian Cricket Team and always used to be the aggressor of the two openers. He used to give good starts to the Indian innings but was not able to convert his starts into a big individual score.
He scored his first half century 2 years after his International One Day debut. It proved to be a great boost for Jadeja’s batting performances as he scored 3 more half centuries in his next 5 innings.
Every player in their childhood thinks of scoring a century for India but, that moment had not arrived for Jadeja. He once got out on 90 against New Zealand in 1994 only. But, a month later, he smashed the West Indian bowling line up as he scored a brilliant 104 runs off just 126 balls. 1994 was one of the best years for Ajay Jadeja in International cricket as he scored 6 half centuries and a century in 1994.
He had become a favourite of Indian cricket team fans as nobody had seen such a fearless player in recent times who was given the licence to hit each and every ball by the then captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
Even though Ajay Jadeja was continuously scoring runs, he had not scored a century for 3 years in International cricket. In the span of 3 years, his batting position was shifted from opening batsman to lower middle order due to the arrival of “Dada” or as we all know him Sourav Ganguly.
But, the time finally arrived for Jadeja. In the 4th One Day of Bilateral series against Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka had put up a mammoth score of 302 with a great century from Marven Attapattu. India was struggling to bat as they were 64/4. Ajay Jadeja came into bat and started playing free flowing shots and continued his natural game.
Jadeja and Azharuddin put up a mammoth partnership of 223 runs to give a big scare to Sri Lanka of losing the match from a nearly winning position. Unfortunately, Jadeja got out at 119 runs and the Indian batting line up collapsed at 300 and lost the match by just 2 runs.
But, the memory of a mouth watering partnership of Ajay Jadeja and Mohammed Azharuddin still remains intact in the heart of Indian as well as Sri Lankan fans.
But, Ajay Jadeja got absolutely unleashed in the year 1998. His fielding, his batting everything was touching near perfection. He had become a great asset for Indian cricket team as he used to finish matches for India batting at No. 5 and No. 6. In the year 1998, he scored 2 centuries and 6 half centuries, batting in the lower middle order.
After some of his breakthrough performances, he was also given the captaincy of Indian One Day team for a short period of time between 1998 and 1999. It did not take much time for him to score a century as an Indian captain. He batted at No. 4 against Sri Lanka in a Pepsi Cup match and scored an aggressive 103 runs to take India to a total of 286 runs. India won that match easily by 51 runs.
One of the best innings of Ajay Jadeja came against Australia in the 1999 World Cup. Australia finished their score at 282 runs and India had to chase it down. Ajay Jadeja came into bat at No. 4 for India. Wickets kept on falling from one end but, Ajay Jadeja was in no hurry to leave the crease.
Although, India lost the match by quite a big margin, Ajay Jadeja remained not out at 100. This innings showed the fighting spirit of Ajay Jadeja and it also showed of how he would react in pressure situations.
Unfortunately, the World Cup century was Jadeja’s last one in International cricket. Ajay Jadeja played his last One Day match against Pakistan where he missed his century by just 4 runs.
Ajay Jadeja stats (Batting position)
Opening-1193 runs
No. 2- 191 runs
N0.3- 50 runs
No.4- 1008 runs
No.5- 1496 runs
No.6- 1324 runs
No. 7- 97 runs
Ajay Jadeja has played 196 One Day International matches for India where he has scored 5359 runs including 30 half centuries and 6 centuries.
World Cup cricket:
Ajay Jadeja played 3 World Cups in his 8 year long career. In fact his debut One Day match was in the World Cup of 1992. The 1992 World Cup was a modest one for him as he scored only 93 runs in 5 innings of his 6 matches.
The 1996 World Cup was a much better one for him. He scored 144 runs in 6 innings of his 7 matches. It was an overall good World Cup for him because he had started playing in the lower middle order. He played 2 match winning innings consecutively for Indian team.
Firstly, against Zimbabwe, when India was put into bat, he scored a brilliant cameo of 44 runs off just 27 balls as India scored 247 runs batting first. Zimbabwe was bowled out for 207 and India won the match by 40 runs. Although, Kambli scored a century it was Ajay Jadeja’s cameo that made a difference in the match.
His best World Cup innings came against Pakistan in the very next match. It was the all important Quarter Final and India was batting first. Navjot Singh Sidhu had gotten out to Mushtaq Ahmed after scoring a brilliant 93. Ajay Jadeja came into bat at No. 6 and smashed the Pakistani bowlers all around the park.
The innings was remembered because he scored his maximum runs against the legendary Waqar Younis. His 45 runs off 25 balls took India’s score to a match winning 287 runs. Although, Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar gave a scare to India with a good opening partnership, India won the match comfortably by 39 runs.
Navjot Singh Sidhu was awarded Man of the Match but, everyone knew that Ajay Jadeja’s contribution with the bat was crucial for this historic win against the arch rivals Pakistan in a Quarter Final of the World Cup.
The 1999 World Cup was also a good one for Ajay Jadeja as he scored his maiden World Cup hundred against Australia but, unfortunately, in a losing cause. He played his last World Cup match against New Zealand where he scored 73 runs and got out to Chris Cairns.
Ajay Jadeja played a total of 21 World Cup matches where he scored 522 runs.
Ajay Jadeja was one of the finest finishers of the game, not only from the Indian perspective, but from the perspective of World cricket. Batting at No.5 and No.6, he had the toughest job of finishing matches for Indian cricket team from tough situations. Most of the times, he was successful in doing the same barring a few matches.
He would have definitely become one of the finest finishers of One Day game like M.S. Dhoni or Michael Bevan etc but, the luck did not favour him at all as he got into an unwanted controversy which was actually never proved or even accepted by him. The fixing scandal led to the downfall of one of the best finishers India has ever produced.
Ajay Jadeja Career Ending Controversy:
Ajay Jadeja had potential of becoming a legend of One Day cricket but, it was not written in his fortune as he was scandalised by the biggest fixing scandal in the history of cricket.
After the former South African cricketer Hansie Cronje confessed about the fixing scandal of India-South Africa One Day series and said that he was taking large sums of money and was giving information about team management and telling his South African teammates to underperform, the Indian cricket team also came into the net as Enforcement Directorate started investigating on the Indian team.
After Manoj Prabhakar accused Kapil Dev of telling him to underperform in a series against Sri Lanka in 1994, the houses of top cricket players were raided. After sufficient check and investigation, Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma were found guilty of match fixing and they were given a life ban.
Unfortunately, Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar were given a ban of 5 years of having a link with bookies and matchfixers. Ajay Jadeja never accepted his charges of match fixing or having a link with bookies but, still, his career got affected due to the same and he played his last ever match in 1999 only.
Ajay Jadeja and Madhuri Dixit:
Bollywood and cricket has always had deep connections and famous cricketers always have rumours doing round of dating famous actresses. But, in Ajay Jadeja’s case it was not the same as he was actually dating the Bollywood beauty Madhuri Dixit.
The Bollywood diva and the cricketer first met during a magazine cover shoot and soon started dating. Their alleged romance took the media by storm. On Madhuri”s recommendation, one producer even signed Ajay in one of his films.
Reportedly, Madhuri was really serious about her relationship with Ajay but it the match-fixing scandal that ended their love story. Ajay along with former captain Mohammad Azharuddin got entangled in the match-fixing case, which completely marred their images. This was enough for Madhuri to call it quits.
Ajay Jadeja Records and Achievements:
- His relatives include K. S. Ranjitsinhji and K. S. Duleepsinhji, after whom the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy are named
- Considered as one of the best fielders in the Indian team in his time, one of Ajay Jadeja’s best moments came in the 1996 world Cup. Playing in front of a jam-packed Bengaluru stadium against Pakistan, Jadeja was once again given the responsibility of closing the Indian innings on a high. Jadeja blasted 45 off just 25 deliveries as the Indian total reached 287 in 50 overs. He was especially merciless against Waqar Younis, one of the greatest Pakistani bowlers at the time. Waqar’s last two overs went for 40 courtesy of some hard hitting from Ajay Jadeja. His cameo is considered by many as one of the greatest knocks in a winning cause in World Cup history.
- Jadeja, along with Mohammed Azharuddin, holds the record for the highest one day partnership, set against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka
- Another memorable occasion of his career included taking three wickets for three runs in one over. It was against England
- Jadeja has captained India in 13 One-day matches
- Jadeja’s career was overshadowed by a five year ban for match-fixing
- The five year ban was later taken off by the Delhi High Court in January 2003. The lifting of the ban made Jadeja eligible to play domestic and international cricket
- In 2015, Jadeja was appointed as the coach for the Delhi cricket team
- Ajay Jadeja got into another controversy in 2008. As Board of Cricket Control of India was set to appoint new selectors, Ajay Jadeja gave a statement that “ We’ll have a bunch of jokers soon” which led to another controversy to add to the list of controversies that Ajay Jadeja had ever faced.
Ajay Jadeja Post retirement:
After his ban of 5 years was lifted in 2003, he still played Indian domestic cricket. After playing his final match in 2013, he completely retired from cricket. Though, during 2003 to 2013 many interesting things happened in his life. Firstly, he established a bollywood connection and got to act in a 2003 film named “Khel” alongside Sunny Deol and Suniel Shetty.
He also bagged another movie in 2009 named “Pal Pal Dil Ke Saath” alongside Tanvi Azmi, Mahie Gill and other stars. Post retirement, he also started his commentary and cricket analyst career.
Ajay Jadeja was also a part of famous reality dance show “Jhalak Dikhala Jaa” in its first season. He also had a brief appearance in a 2013 film named “Kai Po Che” where he acted as himself. Currently, Ajay Jadeja net worth is approximately $2-3 million.
