Ravindra Jadeja’s return to Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2026 coincided with a reminder of why his legacy sits comfortably among the game’s great all-rounders.
At Eden Gardens, in the first Test against South Africa, he quietly crossed two major career markers that place him in rare company.
A tidy 27 off 45 balls pushed him past 4000 Test runs and, with his 250 Test wickets in India and 150 in the World Test Championship already in the bag, he became only the fourth man to pair 4000-plus runs with 300-plus wickets in the format.
The other names on that list are Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Daniel Vettori.
After a year with the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers in 2011, Jadeja moved to Chennai Super Kings in 2012 and became central to several of its title runs.
Now, 17 years after he last wore Royals colours, he heads back to Jaipur in a high-profile trade that sends Sanju Samson in the opposite direction.
Published on Nov 15, 2025
