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Cricket

Wasim Jaffer ' a legend who was denied international stardom

Wasim Jaffer  a legend who was denied international stardom
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By

Umaima Saeed

Published: 18 March 2018 11:11 AM GMT
February 2013 ' 'I came to know (about not being selected) when I came in for tea. I was batting on 74 and well, what could I do about it? I am kind of getting used to it. So I went out and got my century. I can only do what I have been doing -- score runs and hope that someday I will get that call up into the national squad. If I have to do it with the sheer weight of runs, I will do it." The aforementioned quote, as told to Firstpost.com by Wasim Jaffer, depicted the veteran batsman's hopelessness of playing for India. Jaffer had said this after being ignored for India's Test series against Australia at a time when he was piling up a mountain of runs at the domestic level. He lost out to Shikhar Dhawan, who had scored just about half the runs Jaffer had in the Ranji season.
September 2013 '
'To be honest, I don't know why they have picked me now after ignoring me for the last two years. I think I am two years older now!' 'Age is not in my favour. India were losing but the selectors ignored me. They then picked Shikhar (Dhawan) for the home series against Australia. And he has done really well. You can't complain. But yes, performance-wise, I was nearly there. But you do feel disheartened when you are repeatedly ignored.' DNA India quoted Jaffer as saying the above, after he was made the captain of West Zone squad in the Duleep Trophy. For two years prior to that, he was ignored for the zonal tournament, despite consistent performances for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.
September 2015 -
"I'm not Sachin Tendulkar," several news agencies quoted Jaffer as uttering, when he was asked why the Mumbai Cricket Association did not organise a farewell for him when he moved to Vidarbha in 2015. The MCA could have been a bit more generous in their tribute to the all-time highest run-scorer - 10,056 runs in 19 years. To further highlight Jaffer's incredible contributions to Mumbai cricket - Tendulkar ' known as the greatest cricketer from the city - had 4,281 runs in his Ranji career of roughly 25 years. There are two things in common in the three quotes above. First, the Mumbai batsman's indignation for being overlooked by the selectors throughout his career. Second, he was ignored despite being the most consistent performer in the domestic scenes.

A break up of Wasim Jaffer's incredible domestic career

A naturally gifted batsman, Wasim Jaffer first made headlines as a 15-year-old. He scored 400 for Anjuman Islam against Marwari Vidyamandir in the Giles Shield cricket tournament. Soon later followed the call-ups to the Bombay U16 and U19 teams ' for which he kept scoring runs at will. Jaffer made his first-class debut for Mumbai in the 1996-97 season and since then, the consistency and hunger to score runs has not ceased. At just 18 years of age, Jaffer carved his own niche in a team comprising of legends like Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli, by scoring 314 in only his second first class game against Saurashtra. After scoring 10,056 runs for Mumbai from 97-2015, during which he also captained the side to two Ranji titles, Jaffer decided to move to Vidarbha in the 2016 season.
In 2017-18, Vidarbha won their maiden Ranji Trophy title. Wasim Jaffer, at 40 years of age, was the team's fourth highest run-scorer with 595 runs from 13 innings at an average of 54.09. In the on-going Irani Trophy, the senior player broke several records with his marathon innings of 285* runs for Vidarbha. The highest run-scorer in the history of Ranji Trophy, Jaffer went past the 18000-run mark to become only the sixth batsman on the coveted list. He also became the first Indian and the oldest Asian, at 40, to score a 250-plus score in first-class cricket. Jaffer is now sixth on India's all-time run-scorers in first-class cricket. With 53 centuries and eight double tons, he is simply unstoppable.

The lack of national selection

After a few prolific seasons in the Ranji Trophy, the right-hand batsman was inducted into the India side against the touring South African side in 2000. The team boasted of ferocious bowlers in Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, who restricted Jaffer's maiden Test foray to just 46 runs from 4 innings. As a result, he was dropped before being recalled two years later. Two things never changed in Jaffer's career. One, being sporadic in the national team. Two, consistently performing for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. Also read: Chandrakant Pandit : Vidarbha's wonder touch
From 2000 to 2008, the veteran played 31 Tests for India, in which he scored 1944 runs, including five hundreds and two double hundreds. His international numbers were no match for his domestic records, but his average of 34, apart from two Tests against the then minnows Bangladesh, came against world-class teams. An average like that, for a player like Jaffer, should have earned him an extended rope. One may wonder how his international career was so brief, especially after he hit the peak of his career in 2006-07, during which he scored 5 centuries and 7 fifties for India, including a match-saving double ton against West Indies. He followed this with 81 and 100 runs respectively in the two innings against England in Nagpur. A second double hundred came against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Kolkata Test in 2007, which also made him only the third Indian batsman ever to score two double centuries as an opener after Vinoo Mankad and Sunil Gavaskar. In the remaining seven Tests of his career that he played after the Kolkata double-century, Jaffer managed a half-century in one only. However, that possibly could not have been, or if it was, should not have been the end of Jaffer's career. He was never recalled again after the home series against South Africa in 2008.

Unjust selection?

Jaffer was a warehouse of virtues that are not often associated with modern day cricketers - calm, composed, persistent. An old-school opening batsman, Jaffer's style of batting perhaps never synthesized well with the influx of young flamboyant cricketers in the team. His opening partner Virender Sehwag, on most occasions, grabbed more limelight for his fearless stroke play. People loved watching him tear apart the bowlers, while Jaffer's technical and traditional batting slotted back in the background. Ahead of the Australia series in 2013, for which Jaffer was not recalled, the selectors went in with Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay. While Dhawan's inclusion came on the back of good domestic performances, picking a young Murali over Jaffer was a hint that the selectors were concentrating on building a young team. Back then, Murali was used as a reserve opener only, and he didn't have many domestic feats to boast of, unlike a proven performer in Jaffer. When Jaffer was at the peak of his form, Gambhir was highly inconsistent, especially in 2010 and 2012. Yet, the latter was always preferred over the former. A technically classy player, Jaffer was eventually and permanently replaced by exuberant and animated batsmen.

If his inconsistency for India was an issue, then let us sample this. Murali or Rohit Sharma's batting average in their first 30 Tests is not a lot better than Jaffer's average of 34 in his first 30 Tests. Both Murali and Sharma average 39 in their first 30 Tests, but were persisted with.

Jaffer's international tale is one that arouses mystery. Neither was his batting too poor for his career to end with 30 matches, nor were his teammates in a form which earned them endless chances. If there is ever to be told a story on this, the Indian selection committee will play the role of the antagonist, and the title will be 'Wasim Jaffer ' that Ranji Trophy guy!' After all, his talent was considered good enough for only those games that are played in front of empty stands. Also read: Mithali Raj ' The Cricketing Hero India forgets to worship
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