Written By Vaibhav Tripathi
Former India batter Kedar Jadhav said that he was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by Royal Challengers Bangalore’s move to pick him as a replacement for the injured England pace bowler David Willey. He also added that he had a conversation with RCB’s coach Sanjay Bangar, during a commentary stint, which in turn paved the way for his inclusion.
“Absolutely surprised, but a pleasant one. I am very excited and want to thank the support staff for giving me this opportunity to join the team, I will make sure I give my 110 per cent,” said Jadhav in an RCB release. “I was doing commentary and Sanjay Bhai asked me, ‘What I was doing?’ I told him, ‘I was commentating.’ He inquired whether I was still practising and I replied in the affirmative, ‘twice a week’.
“Bangar then asked me about my fitness to which I said I was regular at the gym and even using it in my hotel. In short, I told him I was in good shape. He asked a time and said he’ll call me back. It was that moment I realized that he would call me and tell me to play for RCB.”
The experienced Maharashtra batter was in superb form in the recently-concluded Ranji Trophy. It is also worth noting that Jadhav had previously played for RCB in 2016 and 2017, featuring in 17 matches, and accumulating 311 runs with an average of 23.92 and a strike rate of 142.66.
“I took a break for a year but then I realised that I was missing my passion and when I returned to first-class cricket, I found it very easy. To be honest, it was because of the experience I have. It was the same hunger I had in the early ’20s, the hunger to score big runs and that’s when I felt I can now come back and play again at all the levels and I was prepared for it, I’ve always performed well.”