Ranji trophy: Wasim Jaffer's nawabi style

Wasim Jaffer’s teammates call him Nawab for two reasons. While the 34-year-old’s resplendence with the willow is a giveaway, his slothfulness off the field isn’t common knowledge. In the dressing room, you’d always find him on the seat closest to the refrigerator. Apparently, it saves him those ‘long’ walks and, of course, keeps him ‘cool’.

At the Wankhede, on Sunday, it was his nawabi batting that earned him praise from all corners. So classy was Jaffer during his unbeaten 137 that he even outshone Sachin Tendulkar — in style and substance — during their educative 234-run stand for the third wicket. However the master, who was more accumulative than authoritative, blew away the cobwebs by registering his 80th first-class century as Mumbai ended Day One of their Ranji quarterfinal tie on 272/3 against a star-struck Baroda. Four overs before stumps, Murtuja Vahora uprooted Tendulkar’s off-stick with an inswinger, bringing in nightwatchman Dhaval Kulkarni.

Jaffer, during the course of his second hundred in as many matches, also equalled yesteryear giant Ajay Sharma’s tally of 31 Ranji tons. What’s more, he he is just 143 runs away from Amol Muzumdar’s tally of 9,105 runs in the country’s premier domestic competition. Tendulkar is now a hundred away from Sunil Gavaskar’s national record of 81 in first-class cricket.

Mumbai were 35/2 after 14.4 overs  — the first run came off the 20th ball — and you could sense the tension. Jaffer survived a close leg-before call early on, but his journey till 96 was largely free of blemish.

Tendulkar, whose first 23 runs came off 32 balls, slowed down considerably, scoring just five off 49 subsequent deliveries. Mumbai took lunch at 77/2, but it was the two-hour period after the 40-minute break that thrilled the 700-odd spectators. If Jaffer brought up his fifty with a single, then Tendulkar did so by smashing Ketul Patel for a straight six. Both batsmen hit boundaries at will to add a cool 116 in 30 overs. Jaffer countered Baroda’s negative bowling by gleefully collecting three sixes in all. Not to mention those trademark drives on either side of the wicket.

Baroda skipper Yusuf Pathan, stationed at first slip, dropped Jaffer on 96 and all he could do was smash the ball onto the turf in disgust. Jaffer duly brought up his hundred, his journey in the 90s lasting 23 deliveries.

Tendulkar was even more circumspect. The drought between his seventh and eighth four lasted an eternity, 65 balls to be precise. But he broke the shackles with a couple of drives before a double, off Ambati Rayudu, brought him his 18th Ranji hundred.

Scrorecard
Mumbai 1st innings: W Jaffer batting 137 , K Pawar lbw b Vahora 8, H Shah c Pathan b Bhatt 9, S Tendulkar b Vahora 108, D Kulkarni batting 0
Extras: (B4, LB2, W3, NB1) 10; Total: (3 wickets; 90 overs) 272; FoW: 1-23, 2-35, 3-269; Bowling: M Vahora 23-6-50-2, Gagandeep Singh 21-3-54-0 (NB1, W2), B Bhatt 21-2-63-1, K Patel 12-2-58-0, A Chauhan 6-1-20-0, A Rayudu 6-1-18-0 (W1), A Waghmode 1-0-3-0