Jaydev Shah is a 25-year-old cricketer from Rajkot, India. Jaydev is the son of Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and represents Saurashtra in India’s domestic circuit. He was recruited by the Rajasthan Royals for the Indian Premier League and has also represented Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI in the past.
Shah has the distinction of captaining the team that won Saurashtra’s first ever title at the national level – the 2007-08 Ranji for one-dayers. In the same year, Saurashtra had also reached the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy. Making his domestic debut in the 2002-03 season, this left-handed middle order batsman has since, racked up close to 1,500 runs with a First-Class average of around 28. Jaydev Shah has registered four domestic level centuries and nine half-centuries with a top score of 160. Shah is also a useful right-arm offbreak bowler, having picked up 12 wickets on the domestic circuit with best figures of 2 for 21. Jaydev’s impressive leadership skills have earned him the captaincy of a fringe Indian squad for a short tour of Israel.
Jaydev Shah made his Twenty20 debut for Saurashtra against Maharashtra in 2007 and has only played three other T20 matches since. He has scored a total of 89 runs in the T20 format, averaging 21.5 with a highest score of 49. He also has six T20 wickets to his name, with best figures of 2 for 11. His all-round abilities drew the attention of the Rajasthan Royals, who drafted him into their squad for the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 tournament set up by the BCCI with top players from around the world competing against each other in teams from eight cities.
