All-rounders now have become an integral part of the T20I format, considering how gruelling and demanding the format has become. Despite the introduction of impact players in certain franchise tournaments, people still believe that all-rounders are indispensable and there is no replacing them.

But when it all started back in the second half of the first decade of the 2000s, the world was still trying to map how the all-rounders elevated the status of the teams.

India had quite a few options, one of them being Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja who was still trying to get into the thick of things with bigger monikers of the sport namely Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan still doing the ripples, he had to wait until he could find a place in the national team.

It was eventually in 2009 that he got called up for the Indian team after a successful outing in the 2008 U19 World Cup under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. His early numbers didn’t really instil too much faith in the Indian management but then his persistence in all the three departments did keep him going.

Things changed for the southpaw when he introduced a new side of his to the world and that was an electric brand of fielding. Being a sharp ground fielder, his presence would restrict the batters from taking on his arm and he would simply hone himself into an unbreachable fortress on the park.

Eventually alongside his impressive bowling numbers, he also managed to elevate his batting standards. After longer stints in the whites, Jadeja seemed to be in solid control in the shorter format of the game and started playing instrumental knocks towards the latter half of the innings.

His newfound batting credentials gave Team India an option to float him around as per the needs of the team and the trick worked wonders for the Men in Blue. He eventually turned himself into a heartthrob for Kohli and company before becoming an invaluable asset to India.

Jadeja redefined the art of being an all-rounder and India found a reliable name in their middle-order as well. He finished his T20I career with 515 runs from 74 matches at a strike rate of 127.16 while claiming 54 wickets at an economy rate of 7.13. Thank you Jaddu for all the magical memories in the T20Is.