Ravindra Jadeja‘s sister, Naina, recently while speaking to Times of India revealed about the unknown side of team India’s star all-rounder.
Jadeja is a huge foodie who loves Punjabi food, but also maintains the diet a cricketer is expected to.
“He loves Punjabi and our Gujarati food but doesn’t eat dhoklas. He avoids ‘rich’ food. He’s careful about his diet. He’s conscious of his weight- he knows that his fielding is strong because of his fitness,” Naina was quoted saying.
She also revealed that Jadeja doesn’t have lunch, he enjoys his breakfast after which he directly eats dinner.
“He has a heavy breakfast, and would then directly eat dinner he doesn’t have lunch.”
Jadeja’s sister shares a great bonding with her brother and also plays his advisory, off-field personal manager. She manages all of his off-fields ventures, including the restaurant.
Jaddu lost his mother in 2005 when she was caught in a fire in her home. During the interview, Naina also revealed that how Jadeja coped up with the irreparable loss, the secret to his mental strength.
“Jaddu was just 16-17 when we lost our mother. On the 12th day of her mourning period, we got a letter from the BCCI which asked him to join the camp for the India U-19 team for the junior World Cup. I decided to make him a mentally tough person since then itself. I asked him to play in the World Cup because his mother badly wanted him to play for India. He went there and did well (10 wickets in six games@13.00), and never looked back.”
When inquired why Jadeja avoids speaking to the media, Naina’s reply was straightforward. She said that when Jadeja wasn’t performing well, the media severely criticised him.
“You guys haven’t been good to him. Many media persons have criticised him heavily, written wrong things about him, and commented that he wasn’t good enough for Test cricket. It can hurt anyone, and he’s no different. He’s an emotional person,” she said.
