At some point of their career, athletes became victim of hoaxes. Often, the rumour mill leaves cricketers frustrated. On the eve of India's Asia Cup 2022 encounter against Hong Kong, Jadeja mentioned one such rumour that he came across.
On being asked about the secret behind his success after rumours suggested that he will not play the T20 World Cup after getting injured, he told the reporters, "Aap ne toh bohot choti baat kahi ki main nahi hu World Cup mein. Beech mein toh khabar aayi thi ki main marr gaya hu. Toh issey badi khabar toh ho hi nahi sakti. (You heard a very trivial rumour. Some time back I had heard that I had died. There can't be a bigger rumour than that).”
“So yes, I don't think much about it. My thing is simple - heading to the ground, play well and that's all. As far as success goes, it's all about practicing in the nets, work on areas that need improvement and that is what works in the match. Day in, day out, the drill is same - bowling, batting and fielding."
Jadeja was exceptional with the bat in India's win against Pakistan in their campaign opener. He justified the promotion up the order and scored 35 runs from 29 deliveries including two fours and two sixes in the run chase of 148. He also revealed in the press conference that he was ready to bat at no.4.
"Of course (I knew it coming)... I knew such a situation would come after seeing their playing XI. I was mentally ready. Luckily, I scored those crucial runs for the team," the 33-year-old said.
"I was the only leftie in the top-seven, sometimes when left-arm spinners and leg-spinners are bowling, it's easy for a left hander to take chances. I just play according to the situation whenever I go out there. In T20, you don't have much time to think, you just go out there and express yourself. I just have to score runs while batting and give breakthroughs when it's needed," the southpaw added.
Ahead of the Hong Kong encounter, Jadeja said that the Indian team will not take them lightly.
"On a given day, anything can happen in T20Is. We will give our best and play positively,” the swashbuckling all-rounder said.
