Ranji Trophy: Sheldon Jackson’s shield remains intact

But, by and large, he has been plagued by indifferent starts. Anybody who has been following Sheldon would tell you that those are largely meagre returns this year, especially after considering the kind of form and consistency that he has showcased in the five seasons since making the transition into competitive first-class cricket.

Jackson had a glorious 2012-13 season, his breakthrough campaign, when he scored 756 runs in nine games. That year, his team also finished second on the points table behind Punjab. Two seasons later, he scored 819 runs from 8 games, registering three centuries. His lean patch at the start of the season was even more baffling considering the kind of form and beligerence he had showcased in the Duleep Trophy just two months ago.

However, on a pleasant afternoon here at the national capital, he finally woke up from his slumber. Summoning all his reserves and skill, Saurashtra’s No.4 notched up his 12th first-class century against Vidharbha, and in doing so, he helped his team cross the crucial 300-run mark at the end of the first day’s proceedings.

Walking in at the score of 2/32, Sheldon stitched together three crucial partnerships — a 39-run stand for the third wicket with Snell Patel, a 66-run stand for the fifth wicket with Prerak Mankad and finally 60 runs for the sixth wicket with Chirag Jani.

Steady partnerships

These stands were by no means humongous. But in the scheme of things, these eventually proved to be crucial in helping Saurashtra cross the 300-run mark after taking first strike. Not surprisingly, Sheldon was the aggressor in all these stands. Nimble footed, and blessed with a long reach, Sheldon scored at a brisk rate. All through his knock, he had a strike-rate of close to 80. In the middle of all this, he even clubbed two sixes.

All these attributes only showed that Sheldon was back in business. He would eventually be dismissed for 116, but Jani’s vigil with Saurashtra’s lower order helped them to 301. “It was not that I was not trying to score runs in my previous matches. For some reason, I didn’t click. That’s how this game is. Coming into this game, I had four failures…so there was pressure on me to perform. Thankfully, it worked out well for me today,” he explained.

Rueful coach

Saurashtra’s coach Sitanshu Kotak, however, was not a bit more measured when asked to comment on Sheldon’s knock.

“Badiya knock tha…lekin he should have batted longer. To be frank, there was nothing wrong in the way he was batting till now. He was a bit unlucky that’s all,” he says.

A daddy hundred from Sheldon could have even taken them close to 400, which would have more comforting for Kotak’s side at the end of Day 1. As things stand, Saurashtra would now require atleast two outright wins from their remaining three games for them to have a realistic chance of remaining in contention for securing a berth in the play-offs.

With just six points in five games, they are currently languishing at the bottom of Group B. Kotak would now be hoping that a belligerent Sheldon ton would just be the spark his team were looking for to reignite their floundering Ranji campaign.

Brief Scores: Saurashtra 301 in 86.1 (Sheldon Jackson 116, C Jani 78; R Gurbani 4/85) vs Vidarbha 4/0 in 1 over