Ranji Trophy: Ravindra Jadeja fan Arjun Sharma is in no hurry to stop dreaming

Inspired by Ravindra Jadeja, Services' left-arm spinner Arjun Sharma has quietly built an impressive record in red-ball cricket. After a hat-trick last season, the 30-year-old is determined to keep improving without losing sight of his process.

In Short

• Arjun Sharma has been a key spinner for Services in domestic cricket
• The 30-year-old has made a bright start to 2026-27 Ranji Trophy
• Arjun idolises Ravindra Jadeja. He has had trials with IPL teams

On a slow surface at the Palam Airforce Ground in Delhi, Arjun Sharma kept coming back for another spell. Across Services' two home matches this season, the left-arm spinner bowled tirelessly, working away without much fuss as he looked to prise out wickets. There was little of the attention that often follows a bowler who is enjoying the kind of run he has had over the past year. For Arjun, though, the job was straightforward: keep bowling, keep finding ways to take wickets and give his team a chance.

The 30-year-old has become increasingly difficult to ignore on the field. He finished the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season with 34 wickets, having taken 28 the previous year. He began the current Ranji Trophy campaign with four wickets in the first innings against Maharashtra before claiming five more in the second. Against Bengal, he followed up with three wickets in the first innings and two in the second. The run had begun even before the new season, when he picked up six wickets against Railways in Services' final match of the previous campaign.

For a bowler who has spent much of his career away from the glare enjoyed by players in some of India's more established domestic sides, the numbers tell their own story. Arjun has 98 wickets in 31 Ranji Trophy matches, a record built over years of doing the hard yards. Yet his first significant moment in the spotlight came in unusual circumstances last season, when he took a hat-trick against Assam. In the same innings, his Services teammate Mohit Jangra also claimed a hat-trick, making it a rare double in first-class cricket.

Arjun's rise has been gradual, and he is comfortable with that. He has learnt not to measure his progress against the careers of others or burden himself with targets that might distract him from the work in front of him. His cricketing ideal, however, is a player who has made a career out of doing almost everything well: Ravindra Jadeja.

"Ravindra Jadeja is my idol. In every aspect, like batting, bowling and fielding, I try to be like him," Arjun tells IndiaToday.in.

"A player like Ravindra Jadeja helps the team every time and in every condition. I really want to be like him."

The admiration goes beyond watching Jadeja from a distance. Arjun met the India all-rounder during the Vijay Hazare Trophy last year and received a few bowling tips from him. One piece of advice has stayed with him, particularly as he continues to bowl on surfaces where patience and control can matter as much as variation.

"He told me that you need to keep things simple, because when the wicket is supporting you, you don't need to do a lot," Arjun says. "That was the main and basic tip: you need to keep things simple."

FROM BENGAL TO HIMACHAL TO SERVICES

It is advice that fits the way Arjun has approached his cricket. On the slow Palam pitch, there were no grand gestures, only repeated spells and the persistence to keep testing batters. His work also offers a glimpse of the Services set-up, where players can produce substantial performances without necessarily attracting the attention that follows more prominent domestic teams. Even at home, visiting reporters often head towards the opposition dressing room for interviews. Arjun, by contrast, was happy to sit down and talk about the journey that has brought him here.

Cricket entered his life when he was nine, largely through his father, who had played the game at university level while studying in Bengal. His father knew the sport well enough to offer guidance, and he took an active role in helping his son develop. Arjun joined a cricket academy in Himachal Pradesh, where he progressed through the age-group system, captaining the state's Under-19 and Under-23 teams. He also represented Himachal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

"My father was really into cricket and wanted me to play at certain levels. He coached me and gave me really useful tips," Arjun says. "I started playing at the Himachal Cricket Academy and went through Under-16, Under-19 and Under-23. I was the captain of the Under-19 and Under-23 teams."

His family made a commitment to his cricket early. Arjun was sent to boarding school when he was nine, and he says his parents never made him feel that he had to divide his attention between the game and the pressure of meeting expectations at home. They wanted him to give cricket his best shot and left the outcome to him.

"They were very supportive from day one. They always told me that I didn't even need to think about studies, that I should just play and play to my full potential," he says. "They had made up their minds when they put me in boarding school at nine. They were very clear that, come what may, I should give my best. Whatever the result or outcome, they would see that."

Arjun was born in Jalandhar but grew up as a cricketer in Himachal Pradesh, where his father's experience and his own progression through the age groups helped lay the foundation. In December 2019, he made his first-class debut for Services, the team he has represented since joining the Air Force in 2017. The move gave him a place in the domestic game and a route to continue playing across formats.

His career has not been entirely smooth. An injury cost him a season, interrupting his progress at a stage when he was trying to establish himself. He returned to cricket and began building a more consistent record in the Ranji Trophy. The 34 wickets last season and the 28 in the campaign before that have helped him find a rhythm, while his selection for the North Zone side in the Duleep Trophy offered another opportunity to test himself against a wider pool of domestic talent.

"I had an injury for one season, so because of that I didn't play any red-ball matches," he says. "But since recovering, things have been going well. Last year I had 34 wickets, and before that I had 28. I also played the Duleep Trophy. Everything is going well right now, and I just want to continue this for as long as I can."

RISHABH PANT’S BATCHMATE

There have been glimpses of what might lie beyond domestic cricket. Arjun has attended trials with Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, including a Rajasthan Royals trial in Nagpur. The opportunities have not yet translated into an IPL contract, but he has remained in the game, working towards the next match rather than allowing the distance between ambition and achievement to dominate his thinking.

That approach was shaped in part by an early disappointment. Arjun was part of an Under-19 group that included players such as Rishabh Pant and Nitish Rana, who went on to establish themselves in the IPL. He had hoped to make the Under-19 World Cup squad in 2016, but the opportunity did not come. The experience made him wary of setting targets so rigidly that missing one could derail the work required to reach the next.

"When I was playing Under-19 cricket, I made goals for myself, but things didn't go that way," he says. "I did well at that level, but I missed the Under-19 World Cup chance. After that, I didn't think it was right to give myself a very big goal, because that adds extra pressure. You start thinking that you need to be there, and because of that you must not forget your process."

The ambition has not disappeared. Like most cricketers, Arjun wants to play for India and in the IPL. But he has learnt to separate those dreams from the daily work required to give himself a chance. Red-ball cricket, in particular, offers him the satisfaction of being involved in a contest long enough to find solutions, adjust to conditions and work his way out of difficult situations.

"Everyone wants to play for India and the IPL. The ultimate dream is to play for India, and it is the same for me," he says. "But while wanting that, I don't want to miss my process. Red-ball cricket gives me a sense of achievement and satisfaction. I get a lot of opportunities to express myself in it, and I try to get myself out of every situation. It is happening for me, so it feels very good."

He is also conscious that a career does not have to follow a prescribed timeline. At 30, he points to Paras Dogra, the veteran domestic batter, as an example of someone continuing to perform and compete. Dogra, he says, is an ideal in his own way, reinforcing the belief that age alone should not determine what a player can achieve.

"I believe age is just a number," Arjun says. "I have seen Paras Dogra doing really well in domestic cricket, so he is an ideal for me too."

For now, Arjun's immediate task is to keep the wickets coming for Services. The early-season performances have given him reason to feel confident, but he is not looking too far ahead. He wants to sustain the rhythm, continue learning and give himself the best chance of taking the next step. On a slow surface in Delhi, that means returning to his mark, keeping things simple and trusting the work that has brought him this far.

Jadeja remains the benchmark: a cricketer who can change a match with the ball, contribute with the bat and turn a game in the field. Arjun knows the distance between admiration and achievement. His route towards that dream, however, has been defined by a different kind of consistency, built quietly over seasons in domestic cricket.

- Ends