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Wasim Jaffer: Why have they picked me after ignoring me for last 2 years?

Wasim Jaffer was selected as the West Zone captain for the Duleep Trophy on Tuesday. The Mumbai veteran speaks to Derek Abraham about his late selection.

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Wasim Jaffer: Why have they picked me after ignoring me for last 2 years?

Wasim Jaffer was selected as the captain of West Zone for the Duleep Trophy on Tuesday. Photo Courtesy – DNA

Wasim Jaffer was selected as the West Zone captain for the Duleep Trophy on Tuesday. The Mumbai veteran speaks to Derek Abraham about his late selection.
 
 
About his selection…
 
“To be honest, I don’t know why they have picked me now after ignoring me for the last two years. I think I am two years older now!”
 
Two years ago, the 35-year-old was rated as one of the top three openers in the country by former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly.
 
 
Speaking about age…
 
“Age is not in my favour. India were losing but the selectors ignored me. They then picked Shikhar [Dhawan] for the home series against Australia. And he has done really well. You can’t complain. But yes, performance-wise, I was nearly there. But you do feel disheartened when you are repeatedly ignored,” Jaffer said.
 
 
But won’t a couple of tons still get help him stake a claim for an India berth?
 
“Look, they didn’t pick me for any of the India ‘A’ games. And a lot of regular players are busy with the Champions League T20, NKP Salve Challenger Trophy and ‘A’ series. I don’t want to look too far ahead. Let’s see what happens. It would be wrong to think too far ahead.”
 
Right now, India have Murali Vijay and Dhawan as openers. It is said that Virender Sehwag wants to bat in the middle-order.
 
With Gautam Gambhir out of the contention, Jiwanot Singh needs to improve a lot and Ajinkya Rahane most of the time bats in the middle-order, there are chances that Jaffer could be selected as the third opener. However, the Mumbai batsman is not at all that hopeful.
 
(The writer is Principal Correspondent at DNA, where the above article first appeared)

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