Best Boy

Unfortunately for Jaffer, his 8,000-odd runs in the domestic circuit will remain unaccounted in the eyes of those who can enjoy cricket only straight from the heart. Jaffer will be Ganguly’s replacement in the team—a batsman who comes in place of a bowling all-rounder—and that is enough to get him a few scowls, at least until the ‘‘we want Sourav’’ roar dies down.

For Jaffer, the Test match at Ahmedabad—regardless of whether he plays or not—will be a testing time. But then the Mumbai opener has been subjected to such harsh trials before. To his credit, Jaffer, 27, can boast of having played innumerable decisive innings for Mumbai in his nine-year stint and in the most demanding circumstances.

But he is best remembered for his half-century against Himachal Pradesh two years ago, when he batted to earn Mumbai the bonus point. He was padding up for the innings when news of his mother’s death came. The cricketer in Jaffer decided to do his bit for Mumbai and after a job well done, he headed home with a heavy heart.

The praises have been balanced by the criticisms. Former Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit has often criticised Jaffer enthusiastically, at times even publicly. Pandit’s logic was simple: If Jaffer failed to score, it was not because he couldn’t but because he was careless. Even now Pandit can recount the number of occasions when the stylish opener gave Mumbai the dream start or a finish to help the team win.

AS a 12-year-old, Jaffer changed his school in a Mumbai suburb and was soon playing cricket at a more competitive level. It was certainly not easy for his father, a bus driver with BEST then, to buy his four sons a proper cricket gear. But Jaffer ploughed on and his style of batting, the lazy elegance usually identified with the Hyderabadis, caught the eye of Mumbai cricket. It’s been a decade since then but Jaffer hasn’t looked back.

Still, he says being selected has left him surprised. Even more since he’s Ganguly’s replacement. He insists that he was expecting a call because of his decent showing in domestic cricket, especially after a double-century he scored against Delhi recently. ‘‘But this one’s come early than expected,’’ he said.

The last time Jaffer played in Tests, there wasn’t much to show. Interestingly, he was dropped from the team then because he failed against quality pace in South Africa and England. So was the allegation against Ganguly, who many still insist cannot play quality pace. However, those who know Jaffer put his failing in the brief stint he had three years ago to plain ill luck.

Now that he’s got the chance, Jaffer will have to show more than just quality fast bowling. For starters he will have to bear with the after-effects of Ganguly’s ouster, assure Chappell that he fits into Team India’s Vision 2007, perform whenever the opportunity strikes and definitely: play better fast bowling.