I am a firm believer in destiny: Wasim Jaffer on unfulfilled international career

Tags: India, Wasim Jaffer

Published on: Mar 16, 2020

After 24 years on the domestic circuit, former India opener Wasim Jaffer finally decided to hang up his boots recently. While he broke record after record in Ranji Trophy, Jaffer couldn't quite make that comeback into the Indian team after being dropped in 2008. As a result, his international career could not realise its complete potential.

Jaffer will now don a new role, taking over as the batting coach of Kings XI Punjab. Reflecting on his career, Jaffer said that he was not destined to have a long international career despite his best efforts. “I think I had a lot of chances. I came very close to those chances. But unfortunately the comeback didn’t happen. This happens with most cricketers, not just me. They feel they deserve to be there but do not get the opportunity because unfortunately somebody else is there to pick you and they decide certain things, Jaffer told Cricket.com in an exclusive interview.

"But to be honest I have taken all that in my stride. I am a firm believer in destiny. If Allah has written something for you, it will happen. If he has not written it for you, no matter how much you try, it will not happen. I am content with whatever Allah has given me. If you keep cribbing about things you haven’t got, you are being very ungrateful. Allah has given me a lot of love and respect from people and I am grateful for that,” he further told the website.

The 42-year-old, who featured in 31 Tests and 2 ODIs for India further opined that a player who does not play all formats of the game does not get his due. Jaffer added domestic players also need to be recognised along with T20 stars.

“I think the time has changed. Even in my time I feel a lot of players like Rahul Dravid or VVS Laxman, I don’t think they got their value. A player playing with them in a Test match knows how important those players are. But you know we have to go with the time. A lot of importance is given to T20 cricket,” the former India opener explained.

“But you can’t devalue someone who plays T20 cricket because that’s the demand of the game nowadays. What I feel is, in today’s age and day, the cricketer needs to adapt himself to all three formats. You can’t just play Test cricket or you can’t just play T20 cricket. You will be recognised and respected only if you fit in all three formats. I am not saying Pujara is not respected, but then obviously he is going to play only Test cricket and no other format.” Jaffer added in the Cricket.com interview.

Asked what he would aim to achieve as Kings XI Punjab coach, Jaffer stated that will try and help them as much as I can. "A lot of players have problems, sometimes its mental, sometimes it is technical. Sometimes it could also be something that is out of cricket. I’ve gone through that journey and I can relate to the problems. And I will pass on my knowledge. Nowadays the youngsters are mature and they know what they want but if they think my knowledge will help them I will be more than happy to help," he signed off.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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