"I get motivated when I see Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni" - Sheldon Jackson not giving up on India dreams
Veteran Saurashtra batter Sheldon Jackson feels motivated when the likes of Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni keep going in competitive cricket and maintain their fitness even towards the twilight of their career.
The 36-year-old has scored a truckload of runs for Saurashtra over the years in domestic cricket, but still hasn't received an India call-up. While it is natural for any player to get disheartened, Jackson still believes that anything could happen and wants to keep pushing himself like Karthik and Dhoni.
Sheldon Jackson was with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when Dinesh Karthik was a part of the team and had seen the veteran Indian wicketkeeper work on making a comeback from close quarters. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, here's what Sheldon Jackson spoke about Karthik and MS Dhoni:
"I get motivated when I see Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni. I was with him (Karthik) at KKR and I have seen his entire transformation. He is a true inspiration for me and at the stage of my career that I am he is a motivation to me."
Jackson also agreed that while his T20 stats may not have been as good as needed, he has been scoring runs consistently in Tests. This made his exclusion from West Zone's Duleep Trophy squad even more puzzling. On this, he said:
"If you don't get the chance where you will make an impact? I can never comment on anyone's selection. I can only ask about me, that why I have not got picked. I will never call a selector and ask why am I not picked.
"If I was not good enough, I wouldn't have played 90+ games with an average close to fifty. My red-ball stats and white-ball stats are two different things."
Sheldon Jackson thanks SCA for backing him
While Sheldon Jackson has been overlooked at the higher levels in domestic as well as international cricket, he thanked the Saurashtra Cricket Association for always believing in his abilities.
On this, Jackson stated:
"I am grateful to Saurashtra Cricket Association for backing me for so many years. The Shah family have backed me a lot. Now I am about to reach a hundred matches and I have reached here because of the backing.
"At times they have kept me same because sometimes it gets frustrating as a player that you don't get picked. I would also like to thank the income tax department."
The Duleep Trophy snub doesn't seem to have fazed Jackson as he continues to put in the hard yards and get ready for the long season ahead.