New Delhi:
The Veteran Indian Cricketer Wasim Jaffer has probably been India's best domestic circuit batsman. He is often termed as the artist of domestic cricket and unsurprisingly, hails from Mumbai. Despite being the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy, and also having the highest number of first-class hundreds, Wasim Jaffer didn't get going at the International area.
Having played over 30 Test for India, Wasim doesn't carry an impressive record. The 40-year-old, in his initial days, used to play as an opener and scored 1944 runs in 58 innings at a decent average of 34.11. Having got ample opportunities up front, the giant wasn't able to impress the selectors and was eventually dropped from the squad. Jaffer last featured against South Africa in 2008 at Green Park.
Jaffer hasn't been the power-hitter and scored 95 percent of his domestic runs with orthodox shots. His traditional approach helped him to amass 19147 runs at an incredible average of 51.19. To top that off, he has won as many as ten Ranji Trophy titles - 2 with Vidarbha and 8 with Mumbai.
Being close to cricket over two and a half decades now, Jaffer finally opens up and has a piece of advice of the young guns. He believes that if a player needs to survive at the supreme level for long, he should have T20 skills in batting or bowling otherwise the path is foggy.
Speaking to rediff.com, Jaffer went on saying "This is how the system is working now. The times have changed. Nowadays, I feel a player needs to have T20 skills otherwise he is not going to survive."
While explaining, Jaffer indirectly quoted his own example and said, "No matter how much runs you score in the Ranji Trophy or Duleep Trophy or Irani Trophy, if you don't have T20 skills in batting or bowling, you are not going to go too far. Obviously, they look into that and they prioritise their game accordingly to suit T20 cricket which I don't think is their fault. That is how the system works now and they want to get noticed.
"They know if they don't play the IPL, they won't get too far. The IPL gives them the benchmark for them to get picked for the Indian team. You can't blame them because you need to have T20 skills otherwise you are not going to play too much cricket," he concluded.
