Ravindra Jadeja all set for Caribbean calypso

Ravindra Jadeja has been the butt of quite a few 'Sir Ravindra Jadeja' jokes for a while now. But the allrounder has taken it all in his stride and is now proving his worth at every given opportunity. After a superb showing in the ICC Champions Trophy in England, Jadeja's performances in the upcoming tri-series in the West Indies will be under the spotlight.

The Saurashtra cricketer set the recent tournament on fire, courtesy of his brilliance with the ball and in the field. He also chipped in with valuable quick-fire runs whenever the Indians needed a boost from the lower order; his cameos in the opening game and the all-important final were match-winning. Jadeja also became the first Indian spinner to take a five-wicket haul in England, scalping 5 for 36 against West Indies in a group match. To cap off an impressive tournament, Jadeja put in a Man-of-the-Match display against England in the final, in which he scored an unbeaten 25-ball 33 under pressure and picked up two wickets later on.

What has been really impressive is Jadeja's improved performances with the ball. The 24-year-old found the going tough in 2012 and was dropped from the Indian team. But it was skipper MS Dhoni's belief in the allrounder that helped him make a comeback last year in the final Test against England, and since then he hasn't looked back.

Whatever Jadeja had worked on during his time away from the Indian team has paid rich dividends. He was one of the key figures for India in the Test series against Australia and after a successful IPL 6 campaign with Chennai Super Kings, he made it count in the Champions Trophy as well. Twelve wickets in five matches at a strike rate of 20.5, an average of 12.83 and an economy rate of just 3.75 makes for impressive reading. But statistics don't do justice to the manner in which the top wicket-taker in the tournament threatened batsmen with his variations in pace and a constantly nagging line. Realizing that he doesn't turn the ball all that much, Jadeja usually targets the middle and off stump, bowling a good length with quite a bit of pace for a spinner. However, what generally tends to bamboozle most batsmen is his subtle variations in speed.

It remains to be seen whether Jadeja can continue his match-winning exploits on the usually slow and low pitches in the Caribbean. He would obviously need to tweak his game-plan slightly, but all signs point to Jadeja coming up with the right formula once again.