Ajay Jadeja refused to take money for serving as Afghanistan's team mentor: ACB CEO Naseeb Khan

NEW DELHI: Ajay Jadeja played a significant role as a mentor in Afghanistan's impressive show during the 2023 ODI World Cup and ACB CEO Naseeb Khan on Friday revealed that the former India star chose not to accept any payment for his services.
Khan shared that the ACB made several attempts to compensate Jadeja, but he turned down their offers each time.
"We insisted multiple times but Jadeja refused to take any money from the Afghanistan Cricket Board for his services during the 2023 ODI World Cup. His response was, 'If you play well, that's all the money and reward I need'," Khan was quoted as saying by Ariana News.
Jadeja was brought on board as a mentor just before the tournament started in India.
Under his guidance, Afghanistan managed to secure remarkable victories against former world champions England and Pakistan as well as a strong Bangladesh team.
Their run, however, ended after Glenn Maxwell's extraordinary double century.
The 53-year-old Jadeja had an excellent cricketing career, playing 196 ODIs for India. He scored 5,359 runs at an average of 37.47, including six hundreds and 30 fifties.
In addition to his ODI career, Jadeja represented India in 15 Test matches between 1992 and 2000, accumulating 576 runs at an average of 26.18, with his highest score being 96.
Jonathan Trott, the head coach of Afghanistan during the World Cup, credited Jadeja for the team's outstanding performance, which helped them shed their 'minnows' tag.