Birthday special: Wasim Jaffer – A legend in Indian domestic cricket

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer is celebrating his 43rd birthday. The former cricketer is one of the finest batsmen to have graced India’s domestic cricket. Unfortunately for Jaffer, he was not really rewarded in the manner he would have liked as far his international career is concerned. A player of Jaffer’s stature and calibre definitely deserved to play more than 31 Tests and 2 ODIs in international cricket.

Jaffer, however, did not get much support from the national selectors despite scoring heavily in domestic cricket for more than two decades. The former Mumbai cricketer made his first-class debut in 1996-97 season and went on to play domestic cricket for more than 20 years before bringing down curtains on his illustrious career in March last year. He finished his glorious domestic career as the most-capped player in the Ranji Trophy.

Career highlights

Scoring a triple-century in just his second Ranji Trophy match, Jaffer gave a glimpse of what to expect from him and fully lived up to the lofty expectations. He finished the Ranji Trophy as not only its most-capped player but also its highest run-scorer (12,038) in addition to hitting the most centuries (40) and taking the most catches (200). Among his other achievements in domestic cricket, he was also the highest run-scorer in the Duleep Trophy (2545) and the Irani Cup (1294).

He won Ranji Trophy titles with Mumbai as well as Vidarbha. Overall, Jaffer played 260 first-class games, scoring 19,410 runs at an average of 50.67. He scored 57 hundreds and 91 fifties with 314 being his highest score. But for all his achievements in the domestic arena, Jaffer did not really get a longer rope in international cricket.

What is even more baffling is that he performed well in international cricket too. The Mumbai legend faced some of the best bowling attacks around the world and left his mark. His 116-run knock against South Africa in Cape Town is still the only century by an Indian in the African country. He also scored two double-centuries – 212 against West Indies in Antigua in 2006 and 202 against Pakistan in Kolkata in 2008. Overall, he scored 1944 runs with the help of 5 centuries and 11 fifties in Tests.