Former Indian batter, Ajay Jadeja made a huge contribution in Afghanistan’s outstanding performance at the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. He was appointed as the mentor of the team for the much-awaited tournament, and under his guidance, the team pulled off memorable wins over teams like Pakistan, England, and Sri Lanka.
Naseeb Khan, the CEO of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), recently shared an important aspect of Jadeja’s contribution to the team. Despite offering him compensation on multiple occasion by the ACB, Ajy Jadeja showed no signs of greed and refused any payment for his mentoring services.
Accordig to the reports of Ariana News, Naseeb Khan shared, “We insisted multiple times, but Jadeja refused to take any money from the Afghanistan Cricket Board for his services during the 2023 ODI World Cup. His response was, ‘If you play well, that’s all the money and reward I need’.”
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Under Jadeja’s mentorship, Afghanistan managed to win four games in the league round robin format of the ODI World Cup. They came pretty close to qualifying to the semi-finals, as one more win would have created history for the team. However, they left disappointed when Glenn Maxwell scored a double-century and helped Australia to register a three-wicket victory over Afghanistan, and subsequently, South Africa defeated them by five wickets in their final league match in Ahmedabad.
During a conversation with form Pakistan skipper, Rashid Latif, Ajay Jadeja shared how proud he was when Afghanistan pulled off a formidable win over Pakistan on Indian soil. Talking about the vostory, he shared an anecdote as well.
Recalling the same, Ajay Jadeja said, “After their victory over Pakistan, the dressing room was in a celebratory mood, almost as if everyone was drunk without drinking. Many people asked me how it felt after the match. I explained that if there’s a tenfold rivalry in Pakistan-India matches, it’s a hundredfold in Pakistan-Afghanistan games.”
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There is ni denying the fact that Ajay Jadeja has a vast experience of playing limited over cricket internationally and it was invaluable in helping the Afghanistan team to win games in Indian conditions and formulate effective strategies. Having played as manyas 196 ODIs and 15 Tests for, he amassed 5359 and 576 runs respectively. He brought a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the team, significantly contributing to their World Cup campaign.
