Ajaysinhji Jadeja ( born 1 February 1971), known as Ajay Jadeja, is an Indian former professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er, who was a regular member of the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

between 1992 and 2000. He played 15 Test matches and 196

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s for India.

Personal life

Jadeja was born into an erstwhile Nawanagar royal family. which has a cricketing pedigree. His relatives include

K. S. Ranjitsinhji Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as M ...

, after whom the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

is named, and K. S. Duleepsinhji, for whom the

Duleep Trophy The Duleep Trophy, also known as Mastercard Duleep trophy due to sponsorship reasons, is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India. Named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar (also known as 'Duleep'), the competition wa ...

is named. Jadeja's Father Daulatsinhji Jadeja was a 3 time Member of Parliament from Jamnagar Loksabha. His mother is a native of

Alappuzha Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha district in state of Kerala, India. The Backwaters of Alappuzha are one of the most popular tourist attractions in India which attracts millions of domestic and interna ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

. Jadeja is married to Aditi Jaitly, the daughter of

Jaya Jaitly Jaya Jaitly (born 14 June 1942) is an Indian politician and former President of Samata Party (now led by Uday Mandal its current President), an activist, author and Indian handicrafts curator. She stepped down as party president because of the Op ...

and the couple have two children, and Ameera. He began his schooling at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, New Delhi. He was subsequently sent to a Rajkumar College in

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population ...

. He did not like boarding school, and in a particular year he ran away from there 13 times. He finally settled down at the Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi, from where he completed his schooling. He met Aditi Jaitly here. He later went for higher studies to

Hindu College, Delhi Hindu College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi in New Delhi, India. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in sciences, humanities, social sciences and commerce. In 2022, it is ranked 2nd nationally by Nat ...

International career

Jadeja was a regular in the

between 1992 and 2000, playing 15 Test matches and 196

s. He was regarded as one of the best fielders in the Indian team in his time. One of his most memorable innings was his cameo in the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World C ...

quarter-final In

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

against arch rivals

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

when he scored 45 off 25 balls, including 40 from the final two overs by

Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI (Punjabi, ur, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the great ...

. Jadeja, along with

Mohammed Azharuddin Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963) is an Indian politician and a former international cricketer and former captain of India national cricket team. He is the working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and was the mem ...

, holds the record for the highest one-day partnership 4th and 5th wicket, set against

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

respectively. Jadeja was also renowned for his remarkable fielding and was considered one of the safest pair of hands in the Indian team during his tenure. Another memorable occasion of his career was taking 3 wickets for 3 runs in 1 over against England in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital ...

to win the match for India. Jadeja has captained India in 13 One-day matches. One of favorite hunting grounds was the

Chinnaswamy Stadium The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (formerly known as the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium) is a cricket stadium located in Bangalore, Karnataka. Flanked by the picturesque Cubbon Park, Queen's Road, Cubbon and uptown MG Road, this five-dec ...

in Bangalore, the venue of the quarter-final against Pakistan in the 1996 World Cup. The last time Jadeja played in a One Day International was against Pakistan in the Pepsi Asia Cup on 3 June 2000. He scored 93 in a game that India eventually lost. Jadeja was the top scorer hitting 8 fours and 4 sixes.

Match-fixing scandal

Jadeja's cricketing achievements were later overshadowed by a 5-year ban for match-fixing. The ban was later quashed by the Delhi High Court on 27 January 2003, making Jadeja eligible to play domestic and international cricket. Jadeja had approached the Delhi High Court on 2 February 2001, challenging the BCCI order imposing the five-year ban on the basis of the K. Madhavan Committee recommendations. He was back playing Ranji in 2003.

After cricket

In 2015, Jadeja was appointed as the main coach for

Delhi cricket team The Delhi cricket team is a first-class cricket team based in Delhi, run by the Delhi District Cricket Association, that plays in India's first class competition, the Ranji Trophy and limited-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Tr ...

but he resigned from the post. Jadeja is currently a cricket commentator.

Popular culture

Jadeja acted in the 2003 movie '' Khel'' with

Sunny Deol Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1956), better known by his stage name Sunny Deol, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, politician and current Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency) of Punjab, India. As an acto ...

and

Sunil Shetty Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television personality and entrepreneur who is predominantly active in Hindi films he has also worked in Tamil language, tamil, Telugu language, Telugu, Mal ...

. He also acted in the 2009 movie, '' Pal Pal Dil Ke Ssaat'', directed by V.K.Kumar. Jadeja worked for

Zee News Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation. The channel has been involved in several controversies and has ...

as a cricket anchor, along with

Zaheer Abbas Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani PP, (in Punjabi and Urdu: سید ظہیر عباس کرمانی; born 24 July 1947), popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a former Pakistani cricketer. He is among few professional cricketers who used to wear spectacles ...

, the former Pakistan cricket captain, during the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup. He reprised the role for the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup. Later, he signed to work as a cricket analyst with

NDTV India NDTV India (styled as NDTV इंडिया) is a Hindi news channel in India owned by New Delhi Television Limited. In June 2016, NDTV decided to launch two separate channels called NDTV India and NDTV Spice in the United Kingdom. History ...

and NDTV 24*7. Jadeja was a contestant on the celebrity dance show ''

Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa ''Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'' is an Indian Hindi-language reality television show and the Indian version of BBC's ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and ''Dancing with the Stars''. The show pairs celebrities with professional dancers. Each couple performs pred ...

'' in its first season. He also appeared on the TV show ''

Comedy Circus ''The Comedy Circus Show '' is an Indian comedy show that aired on Sony Entertainment Television. Overview Comedy Circus 1: Hindi TV Show where daily soap stars perform stand-up comedy. Paired with the "finest" stand up talent from India and ...

''. He did a cameo in

Abhishek Kapoor Abhishek Kapoor (born 6 August 1971) is an Indian film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Career He started his career as an actor in 1996 with movies ''Aashique Mastane'', opposite ''Monica Bedi'', directed by ''Ajay Kashyap'' an ...

's film

Kai Po Che! ''Kai Po Che!: Brothers... For Life'' () is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language buddy sports drama film directed by Abhishek Kapoor and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures, marking the banner's first solo ...

acting as himself in a cricket commentator role.

References

Ajay Jadeja, Sanjeev Kapoor to put on their dancing shoes on Sony

I admire the way Ajay deals with everything: Aditi Jaitly

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jadeja, Ajay Indian cricketers 1971 births Living people India Test cricketers Indian cricket captains India One Day International cricketers Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Delhi cricketers Haryana cricketers Jammu and Kashmir cricketers North Zone cricketers Rajasthan cricketers Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Indian cricket commentators Recipients of the Arjuna Award Gujarati people People from Jamnagar Cricketers from Gujarat Gujarati sportspeople Indian cricket coaches Cricketers who have acted in films Cricketers banned for corruption Commonwealth Games competitors for India