New Delhi: Wasim Jaffer, who was looking like the most deserving option for the opening slot, has been side-lined by the committee of national selectors once again. They have considered Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan as the better options for the upcoming Test series against Australia. This decision looks very partial against Jaffer as he has scored enough runs to deserve a chance in the national team. And especially when he has the experience of playing international cricket, his form in home conditions does call for his inclusion in the squad.
Wasim Jaffer has scored more than thousand runs in the domestic circuit this season, including Ranji and Irani trophy. His average is 84.75, which is good enough to get him a Test call. Apart from being the run machine this season, he achieved the feat of scoring most number of runs in the Ranji Trophy. He was among the top 10 run scorers this Season but still has been deprived of chance showcase his caliber.
Jaffer has overcome his shortcoming of getting out on the ball that is pitched outside the off-stump. So it shows that he has learnt from his mistakes and wants to earn his place in the Team.
Duo of Jaffer and Cheteshwar Pujara would have made a big difference if they were allowed to bat together in the first two Test matches. Both of them are good Test players who galvanize their innings by taking their time and then start scoring on bad balls. This could have been the real hurdle for Australian pace attack.
On the other side, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, who made it into the Test-side for the first two Test matches against Australia, were not even in the list of top batsmen in this season of Ranji trophy. Performance should have been the criteria for the selection which unfortunately didn’t happen this time. Selectors should try to balance the team by bringing in right players when they are in their best form.
And if age-criteria was among the factors for omission of Jaffer from the 15-men squad, then that applies for Virender Sehwag, who is now 35 and is not getting any younger, as well. He has never looked in best of touch from the past two years. He has played 16 Test matches and scored with an average of 30.65 with just one century in his kitty which came on a flat track of Ahmedabad against England.
And if the selectors were thinking of a left hand- right hand combination then they should look back on the past 15 Test matches where this combination has failed miserably. Selectors should not focus so much on things which are not working for the team in any format of the game. There had been many examples in the cricketing history, including Sachin Tendulkar-Virender Sehwag, Alastair Cook-Andrew Strauss and Matthew Hayden-Adam Gilchrist who have scored ample amount of runs and showed everyone that such combination matters the least when the player is concentrating on his performance rather than on playing mind games with the opposition.
Coming to Jaffer, he still looks hopeful for his Test call for the last two matches of this series and wants to contribute more to cricket by playing for India.
To it, India will play their next Test Series against the Proteas in South Africa, which is going to be extremely tough because of their world class bowlers including Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and timeless Jacques Kallis. For facing this kind of pace-attack, a team requires defensive player and Jaffer was ideally fit for it.
