I don’t have a lot of time left but I’ll keep going as long as I enjoy, remarks Wasim Jaffer
Former India Test opener Wasim Jaffer has admitted that his motivation is slowing down and he is around the last hurdle of his career. Jaffer, who turned 41 on February 16 this year, is hoping to play another season with Vidarbha despite acknowledging that he does the hard yards behind the scene.
The Vidarbha opener had a dream run in the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 scoring 1037 runs with 4 centuries in 11 matches. Jaffer is also the highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy history with 11,775 runs with 40 centuries in 149 matches overall with Mumbai and Vidarbha, but with age catching up, he believes that the motivation is going down slowly.
“To be honest, I expect every season to go like this. I prepare myself to be able to play at this level, or even higher. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t. But I ensure my preparation on and off the field is very good. That’s the only way to succeed. I’d like to advise every young cricketer to focus on the process, not the result. It all falls into place if you do the right thing for a long period of time,” Jaffer asserted.
The Mumbai-based batsman commended Vidarbha coach, Chandrakant Pandit for his old fashioned yet successful approach that was beneficial in the team claiming the back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles. He mentioned that Pandit doesn’t miss a ball during the matches and even when he is out from work, he makes it a priority to hold frequent meetings with the players.
“He’s a bit old-school in his methods, knows how to bring a unit together. No matter how experienced you are, a spot in the eleven is never guaranteed. These are the things that set Pandit apart. His man-management skills are extraordinary. Even in terms of match strategy, he is completely hands-on. Except for actually stepping on the field to play, he is involved in everything else,” the right-handed batsman told in an interview with the Scroll.
Jaffer also termed selecting players without first-class exposure from T20 leagues around the nation as ‘detrimental’ for the growth of the players as it will be hard in a different level and the expectations on the youngsters will be on the higher side. He further added that he had worked on his fitness in the past few years and had batted a lot to maintain the consistency as well as his skill level.
“For me to just showcase my talent at that level, even though I know that I can’t play for India anymore, is gratifying. Walking in to bat, fighting it out in the middle, scoring hundreds, these things still give me immense happiness. I don’t get that from anywhere else. But I know I don’t have a lot of time left. That motivation is slowly coming down. I’ll keep going as long as I enjoy doing the hard yards behind the scene,” he concluded.
0
0
0
0
0
0
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments