Wasim Jaffer excludes himself in his all-time Mumbai XI since 1970; picks Rohit and Gavaskar as openers
One of Mumbai's favourite cricketing sons, Wasim Jaffer, has listed his all-time Mumbai XI since 1970. Jaffer took to Twitter to put out a list of 14 players, and the list does spring a few surprises, the most shocking being the absence of Jaffer himself.
The line-up starts with an opening duo of Rohit Sharma and the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. In at number three is former Indian chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, followed by the classy Sachin Tendulkar at the crucial number four spot.
The lower middle-order boasts of controversial former Indian player Vinod Kambli. The wicket-keeping responsibilities have been given to Chandrakant Pandit, while the spin-attack comprises of Padmakar Shivalkar, and either Sairaj Bahutule or Ramesh Powar.
The fast bowling unit consists of the likes of Zaheer Khan, Abey Kuruvilla, Ajit Agarkar and Abdul Ismail, and Jaffer has left the choice to the public.
Former opening batsman Ghulam Parkar has been chosen as the 12th man by Jaffer.
Jaffer’s Mumbai XI since 1970: Sunil Gavaskar (c), Rohit Sharma, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Chandrakant Pandit (wk), Sairaj Bahutule / Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar / Abdul Ismail, Zaheer Khan, Abey Kuruvilla, Padmakar Shivalkar, 12th- Ghulam Parkar
As soon as Jaffer posted the list, fans across India demanded that the veteran include his own name, along with the likes of Ashok Mankad and Amol Mazumdar.
In his long career, Jaffer played 260 first-class games, scoring 19,410 runs at an average of 50.67. He amassed 57 hundreds and 91 fifties, with his highest individual score being 314 not out.
He represented India for 8 years starting in 2000, during which he played 31 Tests and scored 1944 international runs. He scored five hundreds and 11 fifties for India, with his highest being 212 against West Indies away at St. John's.
After leading Mumbai to their record 38th and 39th Ranji Trophy titles, Jaffer moved to Vidarbha, and won the Ranji Trophy in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.