Unfit Akhtar made all the difference: Jaffer

Wasim Jaffer may have made the statement of his career with a dazzling, unbeaten 192 at Eden Gardens today.

Wasim Jaffer may have made the statement of his career with a dazzling, unbeaten 192 at Eden Gardens today. But even the day’s top performer didn’t mind confessing that much of Team India’s exploits on the first day of the second Test was because of an indifferent Shoaib Akhtar.

“It was an unfit Akhtar who made all the difference today. That he was not himself hurt the Pakistan team badly. He just did not get to bowl enough, obviously because he couldn’t, and it hampered them really,” Jaffer said after today’s exploits.

The stylish Mumbai opener, who struck his fifth Test century here, was emotional after the knock, recalling his struggle to find a place in the Test team, only to get ignored repeatedly. With today’s knock, Jaffer has got a Test century against every team he has played.

The right-hander said: “Being dropped and again picked has happened to me a lot. I have been through a lot of these lean phases. But again, I am brought up like that, you know. In fact, I am getting used to scoring big knocks to come back to the team.”

He continued: “When you are left out it hurts you. But staying out of the team teaches you a lot on how to come back.”

So is the 200 playing on his mind? “Well, I am happy with this. I will try to get to the mark. But I always sleep well,” he added.

Terming the pitch at Eden as a slow-and-low track, he, however, was reluctant to admit that this is his best knock: “I don’t think this is my best knock. All my five hundreds are special. But looking back, 192 is something I haven’t scored before. In that sense, it must be special.

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“I don’t think I have batted so fluently before. If you noticed how I played today, I was just playing proper cricketing shots, and wasn’t trying to be too aggressive. I played according to the merit of the ball.”

Jaffer admitted that he was extra conscious today after he crossed the half-century mark. “Earlier, I could not convert the starts into big scores. So, yes, I was conscious about it.”

Jaffer’s five

100 v England at Vidarbha Cricket Ground in 2006

212 v West Indies at Antigua Recreational Ground in 2006

116 v South Africa at Newlands in 2007

138* v Bangladesh at Sher-e Bangla Stadium in 2007

192 (batting) v Pakistan at Eden Gardens in 2007