Not many are willing to touch Jadeja, and the reasons are pretty clear. As a source says, cricketers haven`t had a good track record in films and, if a sexy Sandeep Patil could not have a hit, one doubts how a cute Ajay Jadeja would. Jadeja`s image has been considerably sullied by the allegations of match-fixing and, as the source points out, people for whom cricket is a religion may not believe that he is really honest and choose to stay off halls out of sheer disgust.

The most important issue, however, is that Bollywood is full of newcomers who are much younger, raring to go, and good looking too. Jadeja who is likely to apply his mind to the game once again may fail to outlast others in a rat race in which the position of the young numero is up for grabs now. The number of minus points is a lot more, which is why Jadeja`s ideas of a career in films may not be end in a dream run after all. But then, he has got his cricket to look forward to. At 32, should he get a clearance soon, he still has a chance of making it at the highest level and staying up there with the best for a while.