AHMEDABAD: Around 1890, Karl Elsener, a Swiss inventor, had found out that his country needed a lot of tools to carry out everyday tasks. He designed a product capable of carrying blades, screwdrivers, corkscrew and a can opener. Over the decades, the company kept innovating. In 2025, the Swiss Army Knife retains its singular pride of place as it's sui generis.
In 2012, when the Indian team was undergoing a period of transition in the spin-bowling department, they tried a fair few names. Over the years, one of them constantly kept upskilling, adding more weapons to an already imposing arsenal. Almost 14 years since his Test debut, Ravindra Jadeja, the ultimate multi-utility cricketer, keeps on producing the goods.
He has seen a plethora of cricketers exit stage over the last 10 months, the likes of R Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. These three, apart from Jadeja, have mostly been responsible for making the hosts a winning machine at home before the shock 0-3 loss last year against New Zealand.
The fall-out from that series played out over a few months but Jadeja survived. Over the last three days, and across the England Summer, really, the all-rounder once again showed why he's a unicorn cricketer, that rare breed can hold his own as a batter or a bowler. At the new Motera on Friday, the 36-year-old excelled with the bat. Less than 24 hours later, the left-arm finger-spinning version hastened West Indies' demise on a wearing surface with patches on both sides of the strip with figures of 4/54 in 13 overs, including three of the first five.
At some level, one can understand why he's the current longest serving member of the team. He takes care of his body well, his unique skills mean he's almost indispensable in these conditions and he has retained the hunger to make meaningful contributions.
Yet, the house he built could easily have come crashing down years ago when he missed a T20 World Cup because of a knee problem.
For a player like Jadeja, the knee is his biggest currency. A gun fielder, a spinner capable of bowling big spells in the Sun and a batter who has the capacity to block. This was going to be a problem, especially for someone on the wrong side of 30. But he pushed himself through rehab to have games like the one in Ahmedabad. "I hadn't felt the Sun for about five months because I was training indoors and in the gym," he had recounted in a video to bcci.tv in February 2023. "I wondered if my body would sustain 90 overs out in the Sun.
"... It is frustrating to be away from cricket for five months, and I was waiting eagerly to get fit and play for India," he said. "The period after surgery was tough. I had to undergo a lengthy rehab and training. There were thoughts about when I will get fit. I used to shuttle between the NCA (Bengaluru) and home (Rajkot) every two-three weeks to keep my mind fresh and help me recover soon. But the two months after the injury was very tough, because I was unable to walk and neither could go anywhere."
That journey was one filled with frustration as he watched his colleagues on TV. But he's been making up for lost time. Since coming back to the fold at the beginning of the last Australia tour in 2023, he averages 43.14 with the bat (three 100s) and 26.04 with the ball (91 wickets in 26 matches). That's basically the body of two Test cricketers in one.
He has quite clearly worked on his batting but he's just in a good space right now, a place where he enjoys his cricket. "At this stage," he said after winning the Man of the Match award at the end of the first Test against West Indies, "I am just enjoying my cricket. I am not thinking about other records or milestones. I am just working on my fitness and enjoying my cricket. Whenever I am at home I always work on my fitness so that I just continue doing what I’ve been doing for so many years, so that's about it.
"On a serious note, when matches are approaching, I know when to start my training, when to change my food, I have a very good idea of my body and what it needs and in what state it is in at any time."
Jadeja was ignored for the three-match ODI series against Australia but that doesn't mean he has been phased out or anything from one format. For India, Jadeja will always be in contention in the longer formats.
That's thanks to the skillsets he possesses. Just like the Swiss Army Knife.