The ‘miracle’ man for all seasons

Before MS Dhoni went to bed at 3am on Sunday, after the last ball win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, he ensured a tweet paying more respect to Ravindra Jadeja flickered on the internet, reports Khurram Habib.

Before MS Dhoni went to bed at 3am on Sunday, after the last ball win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, he ensured a tweet paying more respect to Ravindra Jadeja flickered on the internet.

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Only this one, praising Jadeja’s miraculous feats again, was not flattery. “When you give Sir Ravindra Jadeja one ball to get two runs, he will win it with one ball to spare,” Dhoni tweeted, after Jadeja, caught off a no-ball bowled by RP Singh, ran a single to ensure CSK got the required two runs for victory.

"No, no, no… I am not a great man. It is a joke. The team is having fun and everyone is enjoying. It is not serious,” said Jadeja.

Jadeja though hinted there is something extraordinary about him. “There must be something in me because of which I have been tagged as an all-rounder. I have scored two triples in a season, taken many wickets. Yes, I believe I have it in me to be an all-rounder.”

Early pranks
That belief is quite evident from Jadeja’s performances. A cricketer notorious for giving wrong numbers to scribes seeking his mobile number. Jadeja has put up performances galore in domestic cricket. Two seasons back in Delhi, on a track where Railways had Saurashtra on the mat, Jadeja ran through the Railways batting.

This was well before the honorific ‘Sir’ was attached to his name this season after he racked up two triples in a season to pop up beside Sir Don Bradman in an elite list. That was also before he lapped up the biggest pay cheque in the T20 league auctions last season. On Saturday, he confessed he knew they'd won. He raised his arms even before the umpire signalled no-ball and the ball landed in the hands of the fielder at third man.

“I didn’t spot the fielder at third man, so I thought it was going to the fence.” The catch and the no-ball signal happened so fast he didn’t need to put his hands down.

CSK and PWI, who clash on Monday, were exhausted after Saturday's games and did not train.