"We won't be able to produce such players anytime soon" - Sheldon Jackson on Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja
Saurashtra stalwart Sheldon Jackson believes that players like Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara are produced once in a generation. Both Jadeja and Pujara have given some incredible performances for Saurashtra over the years and that has helped them get into the Indian team.
Both Jadeja and Pujara aren't available for every game in domestic cricket for Saurashtra and understandably so because of national duties. Jackson feels that the presence of these players in the dressing room just lifts the team as a whole.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Sheldon Jackson opened up on the contributions of Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara to Saurashtra cricket as well as for India. He said:
"Whenever Cheteshwar and Ravindra have been available for Saurashtra, it has been a bonus for us because they are Saurashtra's favorite sons. In my opinion, we won't be able to produce such players anytime soon."
The legends back💪💪💪💪 twitter.com/imjadeja/statu…
Sheldon Jackson also spoke about why Saurashtra are able to compete almost every year. He believes the trust that the management have shown in their players has gone a long way in them winning the Ranji Trophy twice in three years. He added:
"The biggest plus point about Saurashtra is that the association backed the players all the way. They didn't drop anyone after failing in a couple of games. If you want to perform to your potential then you need security and you need to have a champion team to win championships. They kept continuity within the team which helped all of us perform collectively. Niranjan Shah came to recieve us at the airport and congratulated us on the Ranji win. These things matter so much that such a big person from the association is personally congratulating you."
With immense pride and enthusiasm Saurashtra Cricket Association organised glorious and memorable Welcome of Ranji Trophy winner Team Saurashtra at Rajkot Airport. Full clip on our Instagram instagram.com/reel/Co7Yfboql… #RanjiTrophy #champion https://t.co/8Rwsqr0eMI
Luck wasn't on our side last year: Sheldon Jackson
Sheldon Jackson felt that Saurashtra were good enough even last year as they just missed out on the knockouts of the Ranji Trophy and had a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
A lot was said about how Saurashtra were just a red-ball specialist team and the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022 title would have silenced those talks. Jackson feels Saurashtra did well last season as well but didn't have luck going their way in crunch moments. He stated:
"We had played good cricket last year too (in Vijay Hazare Trophy), but we didn't lose because of our skills. It was just that we were a bit unlucky last time around. This time we played good cricket and also were lucky with a few things like winning those crucial tosses and getting those tactical decisions absolutely spot-on."
With a white-ball and a red-ball title this season, Saurashtra have certainly proved that they have the depth in their talent pool to dominate domestic cricket across formats.