"Not as rare" - Wasim Jaffer pulls Zaheer Khan's leg over viral tweet
Wasim Jaffer doesn't usually miss the opportunity on jumping on any cricket-related trend wagon. So when former India pacer Zaheer Khan put out an uncharacteristic cheeky Tweet on Monday, which went viral within hours, the Punjab Kings batting coach had to respond in his typical fashion.
Pointing to Rohit Sharma's three consecutive toss wins in the recent T20I series against New Zealand, Zaheer Khan had asked his fans to come up with more such "rare moments". Wasim Jaffer replied by reminding Khan of a two-decades-old match where he, as an opening batter, recorded better bowling figures than him.
Wasim Jaffer's tweet read as follows:
"Yes winning 3 tosses in a row is rare but not as rare as Wasim Jaffer having better bowling figures than Zaheer Khan"
Yes winning 3 tosses in a row is rare but not as rare as Wasim Jaffer having better bowling figures than Zaheer Khan 😆 twitter.com/ImZaheer/statu… https://t.co/0Px01SrKih
Wasim Jaffer also included a snipped scorecard from the game. It was during India's 2002 tour of West Indies - the fourth match of the five-Test series in Antigua. India declared at 513-9 in the first innings, courtesy of centuries from VVS Laxman and wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra. Wasim Jaffer also scored 86.
In the second innings, West Indies heaped 629-9 with centuries from every batter from no.5 to no.7. India under Sourav Ganguly deployed all 11 bowlers, including Ratra, but couldn't get the Windies out on a flat pitch.
Zaheer Khan picked two wickets from 48 overs at cost of 129 runs, while Wasim Jaffer, not famous for his gentle off-spinners, also chipped in with two wickets from 11 overs for just 18 runs. The match ended in a tedious draw.
Wasim Jaffer and Zaheer Khan were involved in the historic game together
Seeing teams in yellow winning trophies, time to bring this jersey back? #INDvNZ #T20WorldCup https://t.co/Sd9HHT1c2k
This was the first time in India's Test history and fourth overall when a team deployed all of its 11 players to bowl in a single innings.
Other teams to have used all of their lineups in bowling are England, Australia and South Africa. 15 times teams have used 10 bowlers in one essay, including thrice by India. Unsurprisingly, all of these 19 games ended in a draw.
The Antigua Test was also just the fourth occasion when a total of 19 players bowled in a game as West Indies also used eight bowlers in the first innings. The only time a Test has seen more bowlers used - 20 - was in 1965 in a match between South Africa and England in Newlands.