Wasim Jaffer is worried about youngsters ignoring red-ball cricket
Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer believes that the current generation cricketers aren’t giving enough importance to red-ball cricket. The domestic batting stalwart has urged youngsters to focus on the longer format as Test cricket is what that will make them great.
Speaking to former Indian cricketer and the national women’s team coach WV Raman on the show Inside Out, Jaffer said, “I see a lot of youngsters enjoying white-ball cricket and avoiding red-ball cricket. That’s a worry because, at the end of the day, you can become a great player only when you score runs in Test matches.”
Franchise cricket has lured many cricketers to be freelancers across the world. These cricketers have honed skills in one format, have multi-million contracts and even prioritize clubs over the country. Once tipped to be the next West Indian great, Andre Russell is more keen to play white-ball cricket for various clubs around the world.
“The biggest challenge for today’s youngsters is to adapt to all three formats effectively. So, while there is nothing wrong in having big contracts in the IPL, you cannot ignore the longer version either,” added Jaffer, during his online interaction with Raman.
Wasim Jaffer, a First-Class giant
Wasim Jaffer has represented India in 31 Tests, scoring 1,944 runs at an average of 34.1. Out of his five Test hundreds, two are double tons. He also represented India in two ODIs.
Jaffer was a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the early part of IPL, but he was a more accomplished player against the red ball. Only in his second Ranji Trophy match, he slammed an unbeaten triple century for Mumbai at the age of 18. Starting in 1996, he played 19 seasons for Mumbai before moving to Vidarbha in 2015.
Jaffer has amassed over 19,000 runs in First-Class cricket and holds the record for most runs in Ranji Trophy. He retired earlier this year. He held coaching roles with Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Bangladesh earlier, and has now been appointed head coach of Uttarakhand.