Wasim Jaffer’s triple role at Vidarbha: Senior pro, batting mentor and life coach

“We were there between noon to 7 pm. I had developed this troublesome trigger movement where both my feet were going back and across leaving my alignment in a mess with no clue where my off-stump was. His suggestion was to just do it with my back leg and ensure the second movement is only after the ball is bowled. I must have faced some 600 balls that day and Wasim bhaiya stood there through the day passing on tips,” says Sanjay. Then with his tone turning to delight he adds, “And I was suddenly playing shots that I never knew I could, the cover-drive and straight-drive were flowing.”

Sanjay scored 86 not out the next day, an innings that Jaffer sat watching from the sidelines, chipping in with constant advice, and not just during the breaks. That knock brought Sanjay back into the Vidarbha Ranji team, and he presently sits at No.5 in the run-getters’ tally with 665 runs at 95, including three centuries. The dreamy season got better with another ton on Sunday against Himachal Pradesh.

Sanjay isn’t the only Vidarbha batsman to have benefited greatly from spending time with Jaffer during a season where the team has cruised into the second stage. Ganesh Satish isn’t a greenhorn and has more than 70 first-class matches to his credit, having shifted base from Karnataka three seasons ago. Following middling returns last year, he sought out Jaffer’s help in the off-season and even traveled to Mumbai for a week to work on his batting with the highest run-getter in Ranji history.

“Last season he had an injury and couldn’t be with us and I wasn’t at my best. So I asked him to spend some time with me before he left for England this summer. We did three-hour sessions daily, and at times two of them. Wasim doesn’t fiddle too much with your technique. He asked me to develop a trigger movement while facing fast bowling and be more side-on. I wasn’t edging the ball as regularly as before,” says Ganesh, who has scored 440 runs at 73.33 with two centuries this season.

Jaffer incidentally shared a century stand each with both Sanjay and Ganesh in Vidarbha’s last match against Goa while scoring his 52nd first-class ton. And the 39-year-old, who’s into the 21st season of his first-class career, insists on getting a lot more satisfaction these days from seeing the young batsmen who are grooming under him taking their games to the next level.

“There’s also Jitesh Sharma (Vidarbha wicket-keeper) who’s always in touch with me when he’s with the Mumbai Indians. See, I left Mumbai because I didn’t want to hold on to a place when there were so many talented young batsmen coming up there, especially once I realized my India days were behind me. I had offers from 2008 itself to move, but I didn’t. I came to Vidarbha with the sole intention of passing on my experience and helping those around me in whatever way I can to improve their game,” says Jaffer.

Jaffer though isn’t just playing the role of cricket guru for the likes of Sanjay and Ganesh. He also ends up being a life coach on occasions.

“He’s changed my outlook towards cricket completely. I was a very reserved, almost boring, guy earlier who was scared of talking to anyone not my age. He asked me to open up not just with my batting but also as a person, and it’s made me a more confident person,” says Sanjay. Ganesh isn’t surprised to hear his younger teammate raving about Jaffer’s positive influence.

“The greatest thing is how easy it is to talk to him. Before he came here, I only knew him as a tough opponent who you had to dismiss early. But I’ve noticed how approachable he is to not just talk about cricket but anything in life, and it goes for even someone like me,” he says.

For now, Jaffer is still scoring runs and isn’t done yet, but he does admit that mentoring and coaching youngsters is what he’s looking forward to once he’s eventually done.

“I haven’t worked with a team yet but for now I’m really enjoying these one-on-one sessions with these guys. And more the runs I score myself, I take great joy in seeing them performing so well,” he says.