A sweetly timed ton from Jaffer

Having booked his ticket to Pakistan, riding on a stupendous 267 early in the season, Wasim Jaffer today took the field against Tamil Nadu w...

3 min readDecember 25Dec 26, 2005 12:00 AM IST

Having booked his ticket to Pakistan, riding on a stupendous 267 early in the season, Wasim Jaffer today took the field against Tamil Nadu with a queer sense of pressure to justify his selection.

Chosen behind Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, and ahead of another prolific run-getter Dheeraj Jadhav for what the stylish opener has termed his toughest Test series to date, Jaffer scored an assertive 162 against the south-side opponents. ‘‘The century was important for Mumbai first, and also for my own confidence, so in that sense it was sweetly timed,’’ Jaffer said after his 234 ball-162 in what is also his warm-up game before heading to Pakistan.

His third three-figure knock of the season which helped Mumbai score a healthy 372-6 against their co-finalists of two years ago, also helped the Mumbai right-hand bat maintain the momentum in his golden season.

‘‘For the last few years, I have been seeking consistency, and I’ve found it this year after playing the summers in England,’’ he said.

Stacking his runs season-after-season after his brief spell with India ended at Nottingham, Jaffer believes the 267 was a turning point this year. ‘‘I don’t have too many double-hundreds in my career, though I have scored a couple of 180’s and two 160’s last year. Now I wanted to make my 100’s count. Also I realised if 100’s don’t make an impact, then I have to make 200’s to make an impression,’’ Jaffer added.

Informed by his team management that he wouldn’t be opening the innings to enable wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant find his touch, Jaffer walked after Mumbai lost their first wicket in the fourth over. He negotiated the seaming ball from TN pacer Vignesh for an hour, before settling down to play a fluent knock with two dozen boundaries and a lofted six taking on offie Aashish Kapoor.

Three years of the grind on the domestic circuit after his first outing with the Indian squad have also opened his eyes to the big chasm between the two playing levels.

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‘‘I don’t want to get carried away by the hundreds, because I know the quality of bowling in Pakistan will be hugely different. Having watched them play against England, I know it will be very tough. But now that I’ve made it till here, there won’t be any looking back,’’ Jaffer said.

OTHER SCORES

At Mumbai: Mumbai: 372-6 Jaffer 162, Muzumdar 39, Indulkar 36, Shetty batting 52, Kumaran 2/90, Vignesh 3/90

At Bangalore: Karnataka: 255-7 Robin Uthappa 96, Barrington Rowland 46, Sujit Somasundar 31, Munaf Patel 2/37, Sairaj Bhahutale 2/80.

At Hyderabad: Services: 196 Arun Sharma 40, A K Mohanty 36, Yashpal Singh 31, Kaushik Reddy 5/57, Indra Sekhar Reddy 4/28 vs Hyderabad: 43-1

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At Surat: Bengal: 195-3 Arindham Das 64, Abhishek Jhunjunwala 72, R Gavaskar batting 26, Siddarth Trivedi 2/32 vs Gujarat

At Palakkad: Kerala: 320-6 S Suresh 121, Sadagopan Ramesh 60, Sunil Oasis 53, Sunny Gupta 3/111, Sujeet Rao 2/113 vs Jharkhand

At Indore: Plate Group B match between MP and J-K postponed by a day

Shivani Naik

Shivani Naik is a senior sports journalist and Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is widely considered one of the leading voices in Indian Olympic sports journalism, particularly known for her deep expertise in badminton, wrestling, and basketball. Professional Profile Role: Assistant Editor and Columnist at The Indian Express. Specialization: While she covers a variety of sports, she is the primary authority on badminton for the publication. She also writes extensively about tennis, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics. Writing Style: Her work is characterized by "technical storytelling"—breaking down the biomechanics, tactics, and psychological grit of athletes. She often provides "long reads" that explore the personal journeys of athletes beyond the podium. Key Topics & Recent Coverage (Late 2025) Shivani Naik’s recent articles (as of December 2025) focus on the evolving landscape of Indian sports as athletes prepare for the 2026 Asian Games and beyond: Indian Badminton's "Hulks": She has recently written about a new generation of Indian shuttlers characterized by power and physicality, such as Ayush Shetty and Sathish Karunakaran, marking a shift from the traditionally finesse-based Indian style. PV Sindhu’s Resurgence: A significant portion of her late-2025 work tracks PV Sindhu’s tactical shifts under new coaching, focusing on her "sparkle" and technical tweaks to break out of career slumps. The "Group of Death": In December 2025, she provided detailed tactical previews for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s campaign in the BWF World Tour Finals. Tactical Deep Dives: She frequently explores technical trends, such as the rise of "backhand deception" in modern badminton and the importance of court drift management in international arenas. Legacy and History: She often revisits the careers of legends like Saina Nehwal and Syed Modi, providing historical context to current Indian successes. Notable Recent Articles BWF World Tour Finals: Satwik-Chirag have it all to do to get through proverbial Group of Death. (Dec 2025) The age of Hulks in Indian badminton is here. (Dec 2025) Treadmill, Yoganidra and building endurance: The themes that defined the resurgence of Gayatri and Treesa. (Dec 2025) Ayush Shetty beats Kodai Naraoka: Will 20-year-old be the headline act in 2026? (Nov 2025) Modern Cinderella tale – featuring An Se-young and a shoe that fits snugly. (Nov 2025) Other Sports Interests Beyond the court, Shivani is a passionate follower of South African cricket, sometimes writing emotional columns about her irrational support for the Proteas, which started because of love for Graeme Smith's dour and doughty Test playing style despite being a left-hander, and sustained over curiosity over their heartbreaking habit of losing ICC knockouts. You can follow her detailed analysis and columns on her official Indian Express profile page. ... Read More

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