Wasim Jaffer suggests the youngsters to not follow the cricketers like him

Wasim Jaffer is the only player in the Indian domestic circuit to be part of 10 Ranji Trophy winning teams in the history. Even at the age of 40, he is going strong and amassed more than 1000 runs for the second time in a season. No wonder, he has changed the face of Vidarbha team in the last couple of years. But the veteran has a strange suggestion to the youngsters and that is to not follow cricketers like him.

Since the advent of T20 cricket and so many leagues all over the world, the requirements to sustain in the game have changed drastically. Jaffer also feels the same and reckons that a cricketer must possess the T20 skills else it could become the hindrance in the career progress for him/her. Moreover, he also put light on the absence of the shortest format during the early days of his career.

“It would be foolish for younger players to follow us [Pujara, Rahane and Jaffer] to be honest. We played in a time where there was hardly any T20 cricket, but nowadays there is so much T20 cricket. They might play like us, but they need to have T20 skills in them also,” Wasim Jaffer said while speaking to Rediff.

Times have changed

Wasim Jaffer also feels that only boasting the stats in the domestic circuit is not enough for a player to break into the national side and one should possess unique T20 skills.

“This is how the system is working now. The times have changed. Nowadays, I feel a player need to have T20 skills otherwise he is not going to survive. No matter how much runs you score in the Ranji Trophy or Duleep Trophy or Irani Trophy, if you don’t have T20 skills in batting or bowling, you are not going to go too far,” the experienced cricketer added.

Jaffer also spoke in favour of the budding cricketers saying that it is not their fault that they try and prioritise T20 cricket as IPL is given all the importance nowadays. Also, the chief selector MSK Prasad recently cleared that the top T20 league is a gateway to break into the T20I side.

“Obviously, they look into that and they prioritise their game accordingly to suit T20 cricket which I don’t think is their fault. That is how the system works now and they want to get noticed. They know if they don’t play the IPL, they won’t get too far. The IPL gives them the benchmark for them to get picked for the Indian team. You can’t blame them because you need to have T20 skills otherwise you are not going to play too much cricket,” he concluded.

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