<b>Newsmaker:</b> Kedar Jadhav, the cricketer who is committed to his craft

Kedar Jadhav adores Salman Khan. In film-obsessed Pune, the diminutive 31-year-old makes sure to catch the first show of every Khan movie. In December 2015, Jadhav celebrated his maiden one-day international hundred, against Zimbabwe, with the belt-buckle swagger that Khan spawned with his 2010 blockbuster, Dabangg. There is little wonder then that his “commitment” — borrowed from another of Khan’s famous dictums, this time from Wanted  (2009) — to India’s victory against England this past Sunday was unflaggingly absolute. 

Between battling cramps and childishly apologising to his captain for being unable to keep up with his paranormal powers of fitness, Jadhav put on quite a show:  fierce cuts shots, cheeky dabs down to third man, and the occasional release hit that went soaring into the twinkling Pune skyline, and made the otherwise phlegmatic Eoin Morgan, the English skipper, go red in the face. His dismissal, a tame pull shot gobbled up in the deep, was a feeble end to a scintillating innings played under stifling pressure — it should’ve been him instead of Ravichandran Ashwin stroking the winning runs. 

Jadhav is a captivating specimen. He spent over a decade toiling in domestic cricket, with mixed results: his first chance to play for India arrived only in late 2014. In hindsight, for a man deprived of eye-popping talent and the weaponry required to obliterate bowling attacks, Jadhav’s exclusion from India’s limited-overs set-up for a number of years is somewhat understandable. But he has an extraordinary gift that the selectors may have ignored for too long: craft. 

During the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season, Jadhav piled up 1,223 runs, the fourth-highest for a season in the tournament’s history. In the process, he helped Maharashtra reach their first Ranji final since 1992-93.

Against England, Jadhav proved to be the opposition’s worst nightmare, a batsman slaying them softly. Without apparent fuss, Jadhav constructed the most dexterous 120, combing satiny touch with the odd sprinkling of force. It was an alluring Ramnaresh Sarwan-meets-Rohit Sharma spectacle that left the Jadhav’s home crowd thoroughly entertained. The game was out of England’s grasp much before Morgan and his bewildered army realised it. 

Surprisingly, the years Jadhav spent hoping to get selected for the Indian team never flustered him. After the Pune win, Jadhav’s parents spoke about their son having immaculate belief in his talent. The faith seems to have started reaping its rewards. Against New Zealand at the end of last year, Jadhav introduced the world to his full cricket repertoire. Asked to bowl his mild off-spin in pivotal situations by the captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jadhav bowled with verve and superb control, picking up six wickets. Funnily, he just had one first-class wicket before the series against the Kiwis. 

In a fledgling career, Jadhav’s match winning hundred against England might be his loftiest point, but it’s by no means his greatest achievement. That lies in his ability to keep out the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayadu and Suresh Raina from the starting XI. What Jadhav lacks in stroke making, he more than makes up for it in doggedness. And, with Dhoni’s career slowly drawing to a close, Jadhav can so easily slot in as the team’s finisher. Just that he will have to learn to keep pace with Kohli while running between the wickets. And that is no easy task.