Up, up and down for Kedar Jadhav

January: Century against Mumbai in Mumbai. That too in the Ranji Trophy knockouts. February: Two-crore (20 million) rupee purse in the IPL auction. April-May: A decent outing in the IPL. July-August: Three match-winning knocks for India A in a quadrangular in Australia. November: ODI debut.

Kedar Jadhav has no qualms in admitting that 2014 was the best year of his life so far. But the Maharashtra batsman is quick to add that the year also taught him the real meaning of the cliché about cricket being a "great leveller". Amid all the memorable achievements, the batsman also suffered the worst injury of his career.

When Jadhav reached Australia for the quadrangular series in July, little did he know that he had fractured his wrist. The physio left it up to him whether to pull out of the tournament or to play through pain. The gutsy cricketer chose the option and mauled bowling attacks comprising Ben Cutting, Pat Cummins, Gurinder Sandhu and Sean Abbott to star in India A's title win.

At the end of what he described as his "best overseas tour", Jadhav was told by the physio "not to lift the bat for two-and-a-half months". "For the first time since I held a plastic bat as a child, I couldn't hold a bat for so long," Jadhav says. "It was frustrating but I knew I had to do it to get back in shape."

The worst impact of his injury was on his preparations for the Ranji Trophy. The injury layoff meant he was not available for Duleep Trophy and his first duel with the red ball would be in the Ranji Trophy. To add to his woes, he was carrying an excess baggage of expectations after the dream run he had with the bat last season.

The "1223 season", as he refers to it, saw him garner the fourth-highest tally for a batsman in a Ranji season. His six hundreds were also only next to VVS Laxman's eight in 1999-2000.

"A 1223 season is nothing but a dream season. Maybe I will get close to scoring 1000 runs again but I doubt if I will ever score 1223 in a season again," Jadhav says. "Naturally everyone was expecting a lot more from me. So far I haven't been able to live up to them, which is disappointing. But I am happy that the team is playing more responsibly."

Forget about nearing the 1000-run mark, Jadhav hasn't been able to get close to half a thousand this season. In nine innings, Jadhav has tallied 276 runs. He attributes his mediocre run to lack of preparation and hopes to improve on it as Maharashtra close in on their second successive knockout berth.

"I didn't get enough time to prepare for the season due to the injury. You need a lot of repetitions when it comes to being at your best with the red ball. You need to spend hours perfecting your strokes. Couldn't do that ahead of the season and I have been suffering as a result. Hopefully, I can get into the best of shape for the knockouts."

The millions he fetched during the IPL auction and the tag of being an international cricketer were followed by Jadhav buying a swanky BMW. The car gives a sense of achievement on the back of his humble background - Jadhav's father was a clerk in the state electricity board. He flaunts his car everywhere he goes in Pune - from his favourite coffee shop in the city in the afternoons to public appearances, which have risen considerably over the last year.

But Jadhav is quick to clarify that a slight change in lifestyle hasn't meant he has moved his feet off the ground. "For someone like me who has gone through the grind, I know the importance of domestic cricket. I would have never played for India had I not scored 1200-plus runs in a Ranji season," Jadhav says. "When you don't score runs, there are some people who feel you are not serious about domestic cricket. But I know whatever I am is because of my exploits in domestic cricket. And I will try and help my team in doing one step better than the last year and earn an India call-up again."