Dear woke Twitter, please read about his life before you diss ‘Rajput Boy’ Ravindra Jadeja

On Sunday evening, Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja shared a video where he practiced brandishing his sword much like he does when he completes a half century in cricket. 

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Jadeja said, “A sword may lose its shine, but it will never disobey its master (sic).”

People were critical of the all-rounder, saying that his tweet was ‘castiest.’ Ashok Swain, a Professor of Peace and Conflict and Uppsala University in Sweden lashed out at the cricketer, reminding him if the Rajputs had won any battle. “How many wars had Rajputs won? How many Rajputs were working in Mughal courts? Forget, the marriages! This idiot is a cricketer, plays for Indian team, hopefully not for his caste,” Swain tweeted.

Swain wasn’t the only one – a number of people on Twitter hit out at

Jadeja, claiming that he was a ‘bits and pieces’ player, but a complete ‘castiest.’

However, it’s unfair to criticize Jadeja, given his background. His father was a security guard and his mother a nurse in a government-run hospital. Ravindra Jadeja lived with his parents and two sisters in a one-room employee flat that was allotted by the state government. 

He lost his mother when he was around 14, and his oldest sister became his confidante and friend.

Over the years, Jadeja saw hardship and success. A 2017 article by Siddharth Monga in the Cricket Monthly, titled the Real Jadeja highlighted how much Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the then captain of the Indian team, as well as IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, valued him. This was a time when people ridiculed his base prize in the tournament, which resulted in him becoming the most expensive buy in 2012. “Jadeja was what Dhoni wanted: a selfless cricketer who would do as he was told. Jadeja was still a fielder first, bowler next and batsman last. If Dhoni asked Jadeja to bowl over the wicket, Jadeja would,” Monga wrote in his piece. 

“In 27 years Jadeja has seen more ups and downs than most do in entire lives. On the cricket field he torments Michael Clarke one series in one set of conditions, and becomes the popgun firing darts after dropping a crucial catch in another. He scores three triple-centuries in domestic cricket, but they have brought him more ridicule than admiration. Off the field he is a boy born into poverty who has gone on to discover the splendour that fits his last name by being a loyal foot soldier. And yet that royal life loses its charm in the absence of cricket,” the article added. 

Is Ravindra Jadeja justified in celebrating the way he did? It’s a matter of opinion. However, is it fair to troll him for the same? No it’s not. And it’s not because of the records he has had in Indian cricket, but for the fact that it’s unfair to judge him for something his clan has been doing for centuries. Brandishing swords in a losing cause