When Shane Warne identified 'Rockstar' Jadeja as 'special talent, superstar in the making' during IPL 2008
Jadeja only became a household name after his second appearance for Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural season of Indian Premier League (IPL).
A record-breaking 175 and a wicket in only his second delivery - Ravindra Jadeja had an impactful day 2 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali. And it only seemed as a fitting tribute from the all-rounder for the Australia cricket legend Shane Warne, who has played an influential role in the early days of his career. World cricket on Friday was hit by the shocking demise of Warne, aged 52, of a suspected heart attack while holidaying in Thailand.
Jadeja was the first Indian cricketer to have featured in two U19 World Cups and had played two stellar roles one of which was part of the team's 2008 win under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. He also appeared in the Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra back then, and had a rather quiet season. Yet Jadeja only became a household name after his second appearance for Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural season of Indian Premier League (IPL).
Rajasthan weren't among the pre-tournament favourites and had just been thrashed by Delhi Daredevils in their first game. A few days later, Rajasthan were staring at another in Jaipur's first IPL game, against Kings XI Punjab. Jadeja walked in to bat in the 12th over with 4 wickets down and 68 more to win.
All hopes were pinned on Watson who reached to his half century with a huge six launched into the roof of the Sawai Man Singh stadium. And soon a young Jadeja joined the party with two boundaries against Sreesanth in the 14th over before taking on Piyush Chawla with a four and a six.
Punjab then brought back Australia pacer Brett Lee to halt Jadeja's carnage, but the youngster did not stop. He hit the second ball, a fuller and furiously-fast delivery, down to third man for a boundary and guided the fifth ball, another fuller delivery, through backward point for a four.
Rajasthan eventually won by six wickets with 11 balls remaining with Watson winning the Player of the Match award with his unbeaten 49-ball 76 while Warne had starred with the bowl with his three-fer. But Rajasthan had unearthed a new talent in the then 19-year-old left-hander, who finished with 36 off 25.
"We identified him as a special talent straight away," Warne was quoted by Guardian in an interview in 2009 while Watson said, "He was hitting it wherever he wanted, against bowlers of the quality of Brett Lee." The Australian spin legend later added hailing Jadeja as a "superstar in the making".
Nine months later Jadeja produced a spectacular all-round Raji Trophy season in Saurashtra's run to the semis, scoring 739 runs and taking 42 wickets in nine games. He later made his India debut in the limited-overs format in 2009 and earned his Test cap three years later.
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