Jadeja's hometown awaits his turn

The all-rounder has been enduring a relatively tough time, both on and off the field, but a game in his home-ground could offer revival

RAVINDRA JADEJA, LEKIN voh idhar nahi pada (but he didn't study here)" the sentry at the gate of the famous The Rajkumar College in Rajkot, the alumni includes Ranjitsinghji, Duleepsinhji, Ajay Jadeja, five other Test cricketers and several first-class players, announces grandly about his favourite player in the Indian team.

The sun has begun to sink, the college has just shut for the day, and the man who will guard nothingness in the nights perks up: "Voh humare jaisey hain. (He is like us)." Not from the clan of rajas and the royals who once dotted the college, that is. Jadeja, born in a one-room government flat to a nurse and a security guard, has risen in stature to being called 'Bapu', endearment for kings and mass leaders these days. The few around the guard bristle when it is put to them that Axar Patel is also called Bapu by some of his IPL team-mates."Jadeja is Bapu, not Axar".

But their Bapu, who hails from the Jamnagar, is in a spot of bother now. On and off the field. He usually shuts critics with grand performances when talks swirls against him, and his faithful seem pretty confident. Jadeja's father recently gave a bruising interview, dragging mud all over.