Former Indian middle-order batter Kedar Jadhav is celebrating his 39th birthday today. From being an unknown name to being a quality utility player for India in international cricket, Jadhav’s journey was long but he finally got his share of reward. He was an important part of the Indian ODI team in the later phase of the last decade. The right-hander was an asset not just for his batting but for his handy off-spin as well.
Kedar Jadhav got the opportunity to make his international debut a bit late in his career. He stepped into international cricket in 2014 when he was called up for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. In the last match of that series, he was handed his first India cap. The next year he made his T20I debut as well. India toured Zimbabwe in 2015 and Jadhav played his maiden T20I in the first match of the 2-match T20I series. Because of his impressive middle-order knocks he was selected for the 2017 Champions Trophy squad. His bowling skills also helped his cause in becoming a regular in the limited overs format, particularly in ODI cricket. It was his cameo in the final that won the 2018 Asia Cup for India. Kedar Jadhav was also a part of the Indian team that played in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup.
A late bloomer
Kedar Jadhav certainly got a break later in his career but he made the most of those opportunities. The all-rounder played 73 ODIs for India and he scored 1389 runs in those matches, at an average of 42.09. He also had 27 wickets to his name in this format. In the T20I format, Kedar Jadhav represented India 9 times. He could not get as much success in the shortest format of the game. After the 2019 ODI World Cup, team India looked for fresh faces which led to his exclusion from the team. His international stint was short-lived but he certainly made an impact.
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