Cricket
Wasim Jaffer at his absolute best!
Updated : Mar 15, 2018, 02:45 PM IST
Wasim Jaffer slammed a masterful double-century on Thursday as Vidarbha plied on the runs on Day 2 of the Irani Trophy against Rest of India.
Jaffer was at his sublime best as he got together with Ganesh Satish, who stroked a composed century, to put Ravichandran Ashwin and his bowlers to sword. The Ranji Trophy champions crossed the 500-run mark before Tea on Thursday, having lost just two wickets.
The stylish right-hander has now become just the fifth Indian batsman to score a double-hundred after the age of 40.
Twitter has been full of praise for the legend since he got to his ton on Wednesday, with stalwarts like Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman voicing their admiration on Twitter.
Wasim Jaffer now becomes the only fifth Indian batsman in fc cricket to make a 200+ after the age of 40!
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 15, 2018
22 years ago in 1996 he was just 18 years when he made a triple century for Mumbai!#IraniCup #ROIvVID
Well done Wasim Jaffer ..old man still super @bcci
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) March 15, 2018
Indians with 18000 fc runs...
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 15, 2018
25834 - Sunil Gavaskar
25396 - Sachin Tendulkar
23794 - Rahul Dravid
19730 - VVS Laxman
18740 - Vijay Hazare
18002* - Wasim Jaffer#IraniCup #ROIvVID
Really good to see Wasim Jaffer score another with so much ease. Its also great to see him so committed even at this stage of his career. #inspiration
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) March 14, 2018
Indians with most fc 100s
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 15, 2018
81 - S Gavaskar/S Tendulkar
68 - R Dravid
60 - V Hazare
55 - D Vengsarkar/VVS Laxman
54 - M Azharuddin
53 - Wasim Jaffer#IraniCup #ROIvVID
Wasim Jaffer is an inspiration. At 40, has scored a brilliant double hundred against a Rest of India attack also compromising Ashwin.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) March 15, 2018
Irani Trophy: 40-year-old Wasim Jaffer, batting like a 30-year-old maestro in his pomp, with the run hunger of a 20-year-old eager to make his mark. He's unbeaten 178 currently and has passed 18000 first class runs
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 15, 2018
Wasim Jaffer:
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) March 15, 2018
18k+ First Class Runs
50+ First Class 100s
Remember the name!
Wasim Jaffer - The spirit of Indian domestic cricket. #IraniCup
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) March 15, 2018
Run machine Wasim Jaffer celebrates his 53rd First-class century in @paytm #IraniCup #ROIvVID pic.twitter.com/CGFB8ApcVm
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 14, 2018
Absolutely loved the reaction of Wasim Jaffer after hitting a boundary to reach 18000 runs!!! Looks at the dressing room, doesn’t understand the fuss behind them applauding for that shot! Raises his bat anyways and goes back to bat again! What a champion! #IraniCup
— RK (@RK_sports) March 15, 2018
Double century for Wasim Jaffer. Class, composure and commitment to the game #iranitrophy
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 15, 2018
What is wasim jaffer yo-yo test score?
— notajournalist (@amitmirror) March 15, 2018
The Nawab Of Bombay Wasim Jaffer 200 not out.
— Makarand Waingankar (@wmakarand) March 15, 2018
Batting master-class! Wasim Jaffer celebrates his double century in @paytm #IraniCup #ROIvVID pic.twitter.com/IAJNAUUu5y
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 15, 2018
Wasim Jaffer a double ton at 40 years of age...at an age where 120/80 Is considered normal this guy hits a double to show he is not normal
— shishir hattangadi (@shishhattangadi) March 15, 2018
In the history of first-class cricket, spanning nearly 200 years, only five batsmen have managed to make a triple century after the age 40 years!
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 15, 2018
Wasim Jaffer now 218*#justsaying#IraniCup#ROIvVID
In the age of six pack abs and yo test, and yo yo honey singh, wasim jaffer flows quietly and keeps nourishing
— notajournalist (@amitmirror) March 15, 2018
We all know what a run making machine Wasim Jaffer is all about. To score those, you need to be concentrating. Evidence? Over the last hour and a half, he’s been beaten just ONCE outside the off. Amazing player! Hunger intact! #IraniCup
— RK (@RK_sports) March 15, 2018
Domestic Jaffer showed his mastery with a 53rd first-class hundred in Vidarbha's 289 for two against Rest of India on the opening day of the Irani Cup, which witnessed an out-of-sorts R Ashwin trying his hand at bowling leg breaks.
The Ranji Trophy champions were hardly bothered by the Rest of India bowlers on a placid Jamtha track as the 40-year-old Jaffer remained unbeaten on 113 off 166 balls with 16 boundaries and a six to his credit. He was as regal in his strokeplay as he has always been, becoming the highest ever run-getter in the history of Irani Cup.
Jaffer, who was appearing in his 242nd first-class matches, has now played 12 Irani Cup games (mostly for Mumbai, a few for Rest of India and now for Vidarbha) with over 1000 runs -- the tally is more than the top-5 that includes legends such as GR Vishwanath, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sunil Gavaskar.
Ashwin's figures of 25-1-66-1 won't tell the story about him being largely ineffective primarily due to lack of assistance from the track. In between, Ashwin tried bowling leg-breaks, but Jaffer and Vidarbha skipper Faiz Fazal (89, 190 balls) negotiated him without much difficulty.
There has been insecurity about losing his place to younger wrist spinners in the limited overs set-up, and the more variations that Ashwin tried, the more he looked out of place. The leg-breaks didn't turn and Jaffer at times would just lean on the back foot and tap it away. When he tried to flight the ball, Jaffer or opener Sanjay Ramaswamy (53, 111 balls) would come down the track to negate it.
The most disappointing aspect of Ashwin's bowling was lack of venom in his off-breaks as there was hardly any visible turn off the pitch. The successful opening pair of Fazal and Ramaswamy once again showed why they had made such a big impact in Vidarbha's Ranji triumph, adding 101 runs for the opening stand.
Ramaswamy, in fact, hit a big straight six off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, apart from six boundaries. Fazal was more dogged in his approach, something that got him 900 runs in the Ranji season. Ramaswamy was finally gone after lunch, trying to work Jayant Yadav on the leg-side and offering a simple catch to Ravikumar Samarth at short mid-wicket.
Once Jaffer came in, he showed why he belonged to a different league. The first short ball from Jayant was pulled for a boundary and the next was through square. Navdeep Saini was cover driven and then came the Jaffer patented whip off his pads to the mid-wicket boundary. He also repeated the shot against Siddarth Kaul. 70 off his 113 came in boundaries and he showed time and again as to why he will forever remain one of India's finest first-class batsmen.
A six was hit off Jayant Yadav (1/73 in 18 overs), who didn't look like being among India's elite domestic cricketers at the moment. His sixth consecutive half-century in Irani Cup came when he cover drove Ashwin, and a thickish edge over slips off Jayant got him to his century. In the process, he added 118 runs with Fazal for the second wicket and another 72 for the unbroken third wicket with Ganesh Sathish (29 batting).
(Inputs from PTI)