Surendra Bhave, former Maharashtra coach, has been privy to almost every rise and fall Kedar Jadhav’s cricket career has experienced. But even he did not see Jadhav’s recent star turn with the ball against New Zealand coming.

“I am pleasantly surprised at the success he has achieved with the ball,” Bhave said, chuckling. “It takes a lot of gumption to bowl at the international level when you are not a regular even in the Ranji Trophy. It is the ability to back himself that has been unique to Kedar right from the beginning, which is a major reason for his success as a bowler.”

And Jadhav’s success has been telling. From the look of it, he bowls harmless off-breaks. There is nothing fancy about his action either. Whether he is aware of where his delivery will pitch or how much it will turn also is unclear. But then, as they say, appearances can be deceptive.

Jadhav, with his short frame, has ambled in and varied his pace. He has offered loop to certain deliveries, while darting the others in. There have been the odd full tosses too, maybe even a long hop every once in a while. But for someone who had bowled just 407 deliveries at the domestic level before, a joint-second return of six wickets in the ongoing series against the Kiwis tells an impressive tale. It narrates a story in which Jadhav’s cricket brain basks in the spotlight.

It is the thought that he puts behind every delivery is what brings him success. And that is not a habit he has developed bowling for the national team. It has been innate.

Oodles of self-belief

In November 2013, Hyderabad had piled on a massive score against Maharashtra at home in a Ranji Trophy game. That is when the visitors were dealt a blow, as Sachin Chaudhari was reported for a suspect action and asked to not bowl any further in the game. Jadhav came in to bowl in place of the pacer. In an attempt to unsettle the batsman with a pacier ball delivered in the garb of a spinner, Jadhav’s action came out awkwardly. And minutes after Maharashtra had had one of their bowlers debarred from rolling his arm over anymore in the game, the umpires had to have a word with Jadhav too. But that is when his intent and desire to find a breakthrough while the rest of his teammates toiled came through.

All Jadhav wanted was to outsmart the batsman. And all he wanted on Sunday was to outfox Kane Williamson. The New Zealand captain had scored a match-winning century in the second One-Day International in New Delhi. On 22, he had got a good start. That is when Jadhav gave an arm ball more air. The delivery went straight on and hit Williamson’s pad after the batsman missed his attempted sweep.

Jadhav jumped and punched the air in celebration, as Williamson was asked to return to the pavilion. It was the best batsman from the opposition that he had dismissed. It was one of the best deliveries he had bowled this series. Tom Latham and Corey Anderson soon fell to Jadhav’s off-spin too. Again, it appeared harmless. But for the third game in a row, it had earned the team three priceless wickets. It was almost as if the Kiwis refused to prepare for Jadhav, the bowler.

India has had a tradition of useful part-time bowlers, who would break partnerships when the strike bowlers would struggle. Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina would all roll their arms over effectively. But with the first three retired and the last two out of the team, India seemed set to miss the batsman-who-could-bowl.

That is when captain MS Dhoni took the Jadhav gamble. Jadhav obliged and India, at least for the current series with New Zealand, have found an additional bowler.

Enjoying the game

“Kedar is very capable of volunteering [to have a ball]. He must have bowled in the nets, and MS [Dhoni] would have noticed a spark. That is when the captain would have thought of trying him in the match, and it worked brilliantly,” wondered Bhave, who has been a former national selector.

In fact, it is in the nets that the bowler in Jadhav has been nurtured. He may not have bowled much in a game, but it is a different story when his team practices. “His bowling is a regular feature in the Maharashtra nets. You will see the strangest of actions from him after he is done batting. You can see him having fun,” explained Bhave.

It is this element of fun that is an underlying trait of Jadhav’s game. The ever-present smile that he carries on the field is proof that he enjoys the game. And the enjoyment is seen while he plays. When he bats, he prefers to punish the deliveries than to be kind to them. And when he has bowled in this series, he has been like the smiling assassin – often picking up wickets for fun.

What also propels Jadhav’s game is his ability to take his mind off it once he is done for the day. He had helped Maharashtra come to the Wankhede and stun the Ranji champions Mumbai in January 2014. In the quarter-final clash, the visitors had a tricky target of 252 to chase on the last day. But Jadhav scored an unbeaten ton, with a strike-rate of above 80, to lead his side home against a Mumbai attack led by Zaheer khan.

After the victory, which carried Maharashtra to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals for the first time in 17 years, Jadhav sat on the stairs that lead to the away dressing room at the Wankhede. Maybe he was reflecting on his knock and the impact the result would have on Maharashtra cricket. But on talking to him, one would realise, the thoughts in his mind were a lot about which places to visit once back home in Pune. He had helped his side upset the champions, but the game was over. And so, his mind was off the game now. His plan was to enjoy the next couple of days before sliding back into match mode for the next game.

The knock came in the Ranji season in which Jadhav stunned one opponent after another with his consistency. A batsman to whom attack came naturally, Jadhav for years flirted with the prospect of being stereotyped as a Twenty20 specialist. But that was before Bhave inculcated in Jadhav the value of defence. Then, the Maharashtra batsman’s best Ranji Trophy season followed in 2013-‘14. With 1223 runs, he finished as the best of the lot.

There have been no doubts about the Maharashtra captain’s capabilities with the bat, but if Jadhav can continue to surprise opponents with the ball, he could be India’s utility player.

A man for all occasions

“If you notice closely, he has a beautiful wrist position while he bowls. He can even bowl with the semi-new ball and move it. He is, in fact, capable of bowling anything – medium pace, slower one, off-break. It is all about the confidence he has,” Bhave emphasised.

Add to it the option of a reserve wicketkeeper that he provides. “If you look at him keep in the Indian Premier League, you would think he has been a keeper throughout life. But that is just his mental strength, which also comes to the fore when he bowls in international games. He can never feel inadequate as a player, and that is one of the primary requisites of playing for India,” Bhave remarked.

At 31, he may not have a decade of cricket left in him. But if he can build on all three aspects of his game, he can be a captain’s delight in the one-dayers.

Fortunately for Jadhav, there are a lot of recent examples at the top level of cricketers coming good after they have crossed 30. The likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Michael Hussey and Georgey Bailey make for prestigious company, one that Jadhav would love to be associated with.