A look at Dean Jones' journey from former Australian cricketer to renowned commentator

Image Credits: Twitter/@virendersehwag

Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones passed away on Thursday at the age of 59. The former right-handed batsman breathed his last after suffering a cardiac arrest in Mumbai.

Regarded as one of the best ODI cricketers in the world, the legendary cricketer played international cricket for Australia from 1984 to 1994.

Jones, a stylish batsman and a gritty Victorian, also donned the hat of a coach from 2016 to 2019 besides serving as a commentator and writer.

Born on March 24, 1961, Jones made his international debut during his national side's One-Day International (ODI) match against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval in January 1984.

Same year in March, the former right-hander cricketer featured in his maiden match for Australia in the longest format of the game during a clash against West Indies at Port of Spain.

Jones appeared in a total of 52 Tests and 164 ODIs during his 10-year-long illustrious career.He ammased a total of 3,631 runs in the red-ball cricket at an average of 46.55 and 6,068 ODI runs at a batting average of 44.61.

Besides this, the former Australian cricketer featured in 245 first-class matches and notched up 19,188 runs in it. 

Fondly regarded as 'Professor Deano', the ODI pioneer also scored 10,936 runs in 285 List-A games he played during his cricketing career.

In 1994, Jones--who was famous for his attacking batting style as a top-order batsman in the 50-over format of the game-- bid adieu to cricket abruptly after his contentious axing from the side. However, he remain involved in the game as a coach, commentator and writer.

Between 2016 to 2019, Jones served as a mentor to Islamabad United and Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League.In 2019, Jones was also inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2019.

Jones was in a bio-secure bubble in Mumbai to fullfil his committments for the host broadcasters in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).