In a rather surprising revelation, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya singled out Wasim Jaffer as his favourite cricketer from his growing days, and that he placed the opener above other yesteryear legends.
Wasim Jaffer was one of the many unlucky cricketers from the 2000s and 2010s, who, despite his sheer excellence in domestic cricket, couldn’t quite get an extended run in the Indian Test team in a line-up studded with legends.
Jaffer, who aggregated 19,410 first-class runs at 50.67 and scored 57 hundreds from 260 first-class matches, is the all-time leading run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy – India’s premier domestic red-ball competitions. He was a key member of Mumbai and Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy winning teams during a glittering career, spanning nearly two-and-a-half decades.
Once in the final, there’s no stopping Wasim Jaffer from lifting the Ranji Trophy 🏆✌️https://t.co/63nCjgsZxc #RanjiTrophy #RanjiTrophyFinal pic.twitter.com/HcF72GPW2D
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 7, 2019
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who recently led Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2022 triumph, marked the yesteryear stalwart as his favourite cricketer from his growing days. He added that he placed the Mumbai opener above the greats in an era which featured legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman among others.
Hardik’s pick was rather surprising, give his style of play his entirely in contrast to Jaffer’s approach. The all-rounder added that he tried to copy his batting style, but couldn’t quite match it.
“Like everyone, I had favourite cricketers,” Hardik said on the SG podcast. “I liked Jacques Kallis, Virat, Sachin sir. There are so many greats that you can’t pick. My favourite cricketer was actually Wasim Jaffer. I used to love watching him bat. Someone I always placed above other legends. Somehow, I used to copy his batting, but I was never able to get his class.”
Jaffer represented India in 31 Tests between 2000 and 2008, and scored 1,944 runs at 31.4, including five hundreds, two of which were doubles. The highest opening partnership he was involved in came with Virender Sehwag against South Africa in Chennai in 2008, in which he scored 73, and the latter went on to get a historic second Test triple-hundred.
Meanwhile, Hardik, on the back of his stellar all-round show in IPL 2022, has made a comeback to India’s T20I side for the upcoming five-match home series against South Africa, which gets underway on Thursday, June 9, in Delhi.
