I didn't touch bat or ball after being dropped: Ravindra Jadeja

Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja admits that he switched off from cricket for nearly two-and-a-half months after being left out of the Indian team.

“After I got dropped from the team, I came back home and stayed at my farmhouse for about two-and-a-half months,” Jadeja said while speaking to Cricbuzz. “I didn’t touch bat or ball. I didn’t even go to the ground, nothing. I spent time with my horses, which I love off the field.”

He also said that after being dropped he spent time with his horses but he admitted that he was initially “scared of them and wouldn’t go close”.

“My friend had some horses about 5-6 years ago. Initially, I was quite scared of them and wouldn’t go close,” he said. “After that, I bought a farm house in Gujarat. He told me then that if you want to keep some horses, I can give you one and you can start with that. I started from there. So he gave me one and said I could horse ride whenever I get the time. I’ve been interested since and loved it soon after.

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“I used to go to my farmhouse whenever I got the time and it helped me switch off from cricket completely. I have six horses now,” he added.

He had a shoulder injury ahead of the 2015 ICC World Cup and had a poor run thereafter. But he got his call back to the Test side after a successful Ranji Season where he picked up six five-wicket hauls and finished with 37 wickets in 3 matches.

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“Before the Ranji Trophy season started, I asked my coach, Sitanshu Kotak, that, ‘what are you thinking for me? I need to come back very strongly’. He said, ‘no worries, we’ll work hard for that’. We worked hard together. He used to come to the ground early, throw me 200-300 balls in the afternoon,” he said speaking of his preparation before the season.

“Before the Test match, I played three or four Ranji games and took 37 wickets which gave me good confidence to come back to give my best in the international arena. It was nice. Before that, I wasn’t working hard. After I got dropped from the team, I was giving my 100% every time I walked out onto the ground,” he concluded.

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