No. 1 suit: Jadeja is a fielder first © AFP
"Hit meaning? Slap them?"
"Anything. Stump. Bat. Anything."
The first match that Ravindra played for Chauhan, he was asked to bowl the first over. He went for runs. Chauhan persisted with the same strategy in the next match. He went for runs again. "I was fielding at slip," Chauhan says. "I walked up to him, didn't ask him why he is going for runs. In the middle of the ground, in front of everybody, I just slapped him hard. He took five wickets that day."
While Chauhan may have coached through fear, there were certain aspects where he was ahead of his times. The focus on fielding was uncharacteristic of Indian cricket back then. He was big on fitness too. He would often make his boys do 25 laps of the ground, and take them on 15-kilometre "cross-country" runs around Jamnagar once a week. Just the fact that he opened the bowling with Jadeja.Jadeja was what Dhoni wanted: a selfless cricketer who would do as he was told. If he wanted him to go swing the bat, Jadeja would be like, "Which part of the ground?"
Then there is a unique method of throwing taught at Cricket Bunglow. Underarm. Not like an injured bowler's underarm lob from the outfield. Flat out, but underarm.
"I believe it reduces the risk of injury," Chauhan says. "Moreover, the throw goes parallel. The time you spend getting up and throwing from above, my boys are done sending the ball by then. In run-out situations, even half a second is big. Just throw the ball as soon as you have controlled. Don't even bother getting up if you have dived or slid."
Watch replays of Jadeja's run-out of Brendon McCullum in the Auckland Test in 2014. Ross Taylor pushes the ball past midwicket into a vast open space, McCullum sees a two early and turns around to discover that Jadeja has made quick ground; he slides and throws underarm even before getting up fully, to beat McCullum's dive.
Jadeja turned out for the short-lived Kochi IPL franchise in 2011 © AFP
It makes Chauhan proud. The cricket he taught Jadeja was basic. "I used to tell him to bowl at the stumps, and then vary the pace a little bit. Bowl from wider, from closer. The ball has to turn. It doesn't mean sideways turn only, but it should do something different after pitching. Put in effort. I should hear you snapping the fingers when letting the ball go. If you put effort in it, then only the batsman will be beaten."
On a Star Sports show, Heroes, Jadeja is seen teaching a kid how to bowl spin. His instructions are simple too: "Split the index finger and middle finger along the seam, make sure the ball doesn't touch the palm, bowl from close to the stumps, and let the arm go as close to the ear as possible."
It is, as Narendra Hirwani once said, like driving. Work the clutch pedal and gear shift eyes closed, then try other tricks.
"A commoner had become royalty by doing what commoners do. What could go wrong? In Jadeja's life, you never ask that question"
The family was happy with how Ravindra was doing with his cricket. They would see his photo in the local newspapers when he did well, but the dream of playing for India hadn't yet taken root. He was just playing. The family was happy that he was insulated from domestic tensions.
Ravindra didn't make many demands, Naina remembers. No new clothes, no board games, just cricket equipment. "We used to carry such a big thaila [bag] on the bicycle everyday," Naina says. "Then we bought him a motorbike - a Bajaj Pulsar - on instalment."
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
