Jadeja and a special homecoming

Very few Indian cricketers have retained their candidness through the exhaustive routine of just being in that position. From obliging the never-ending requests from fans to fronting up to the media on an almost daily basis, even the most experienced can come across as a little weary, off-the-field. Not Ravindra Jadeja. He is rare. The Jamnagar boy is still forthright in conversations, to the extent of even being a lot of fun. It won't be wrong to claim that he's at home inside a press conference room. On normal days, he's good with his answers, on good days, he's even better. Friday (October 5) as he would go on to describe, is a "special day" in his life.

In Rajkot, Jadeja walked in to bat with India having piled 470 on the board already. The conditions or the challenge associated was no match to what it was at The Oval. The Windies were on the mat and had already resigned to their fate of tracking down a monumental score. In situations like these, it's easy to just go on the offensive and in doing so, throw the wicket away. But Jadeja, when he walked out, came with some determination. After a couple of unconvincing, edged boundaries, it was only his third boundary that saw him come into his elements, by which time he had already reached his second fifty in as many Tests.

With India eight down and looking to bat the opposition out of the contest (if they hadn't already at 575 for 8), Jadeja then committed himself to big-hitting, fully. For the next four overs against Devendra Bishoo and Roston Chase, he'd step out at least once every over to score a boundary, and in no time, he'd scurried off to 77. He'd be dropped off a tough chance on 78 but this time, he'd not let that deter him. He had recently mentioned of his desire to score a Test hundred, having had close shaves on two occasions (90 and 86*). Those past experiences helped him this time.

"It was my first Test hundred, so it was very special for me, since it has happened in the past that I got to 80s and 90s and could not score a century," Jadeja confessed. "I felt bad at those times but luckily today, on my home ground I scored a hundred. I was just talking to myself that I don't want to play a loose shot, I don't want to play a wrong shot and get out. I was talking to Umesh [Yadav] and [Mohammed] Shami as well that I need to play and score that hundred. Today I was very calm, not in a hurry and not thinking about the runs. I was just looking to play till the last ball."

Until 2017, India's preferred spin-bowling all-rounder, Jadeja has spent more time out of the team recently, and thus when he got a chance to come back at The Oval Test in England earlier last month, he was desperate to make the most of it. To say his unbeaten 86 and seven-wicket match haul was that panacea his career needed, won't be an exaggeration. So when he raised his fifty from a dire position in that match, he ensured he showed everyone how much he had pined for it, by dusting his sword (read bat) before engaging in his famed sword-twirl celebration. It hadn't shown signs of any rust.

He repeated the act again, in the limited-overs this time, at the Asia Cup, bagging a spirited 4 for 29. That evening at the press conference room of the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, he corrected a scribe who mentioned his time out of the Indian team to be a year. It had been more than that and Jadeja knew it well. This was a man who'd been hurting and keeping a count. It wasn't long ago that he was still in demand until India jumped onto the wrist spinners bandwagon.

"When you are not in the playing XI consistently and get a chance suddenly, there obviously is pressure to perform. You feel that this chance that you have got, needs to be utilised. Even in England, I had that in mind that I have got a chance here and I have to do well here. And then at the Asia Cup, I got opportunity and did well too. If you see in the whole of 2018, I have played only about 5-6 matches, suddenly you get a game and you have to perform in that, you don't have so much time to think."

In what was India's longest home season - 15 Tests from September 2016 to December 2017 - there were two men India's fortunes relied on heavily - Ashwin and Jadeja. Then, Ashwin bowled 53 overs on an average per Test and Jadeja was not far behind, with 50. He bagged 76 wickets during that period while scoring 587 runs (Ashwin's was 90 wickets and 480 runs) playing a crucial role in India's summit scale in Test rankings. His runs, especially in low-scoring ones on rank turners then, had turned entire Test matches on its head. But those don't stay in public memory as much as hundreds do.

Jadeja has been a part of India's set-up for almost ten years now. But it's not the first time that he has found himself fighting for a spot in the eleven. But he's not bitter about it. In fact, he smiles and comforts himself by saying, "I might have done something good in a decade and that's why I am still in the scheme of things. In those 13 Tests [15 Tests in 2016-17] that we did well, if you look at the records, I have done very well. But it all depends on the team's balance. If the opponent has a lot of left-handers then an offspinner is needed but if they have right-handers then I play. My job is to just prove myself whenever I get a chance."

It's easier said than done to prove himself over and over every time he gets a chance. He knows that his spot could well be under threat again when Hardik Pandya returns. But Jadeja is not looking too far ahead. He is happy in the present and with good reason. Only yesterday, he had been a part of Prithvi Shaw's maiden Test hundred celebrations. To have his own today must be have been soothing.

He is happy to let others be a part of his joy. "Bapu, bapu," a few fans call out as Jadeja makes his way out of the media centre. He poses patiently with them before waving them a bye, feeling perfectly at home.