Jaffer becomes first batsman to reach 10,000 runs in Ranji

Having left Mumbai, after playing for 19 years, for Vidarbha, Jaffer cited his hard work and passion for the game as the prime reasons for getting into the record books.

Wasim Jaffer, who has a batting average of 58.14 in Ranji, achieved the milestone while playing for Vidharba on Sunday.

Wasim Jaffer got his name permanently in the Ranji Trophy’s hall of fame on Sunday, becoming the first man in the tournament’s 81-year-old history to complete 10,000 runs.

Having left Mumbai, after playing for 19 years, for Vidarbha, Jaffer cited his hard work and passion for the game as the prime reasons for getting into the record books.

“I am honoured and consider myself lucky to be able to survive this long in the game. You need to enjoy what you are doing and I have always loved playing this game and that has kept me rolling,” Jaffer said.

Knowing that his record will be surpassed one day, Jaffer said the feeling of being the first to reach it is special. “Definitely it (record) can be broken. These days a player gets more games during a season so anybody managing to play for 16-17 seasons can surpass this record. But I think it is always special to remain the first person to have achieved it,” he said.

The whole Vidharba team stood up on Sunday to applaud the feat as Jaffer hit a boundary off the Bengal pacer Veer Pratap Singh to reach the milestone ahead of all Indian batsmen.

Vidarbha coach Paras Mhambrey was delighted at his former Mumbai teammate’s achievement. “It is a fantastic achievement but I am not surprised. He has this ability to get big hundreds which often took matches away from the opponents. And the temperament to score big has brought him this far,” Mhambrey said about Jafer, who is also the leading run maker in Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy.

Mahmbrey also felt that Jaffer could have played more than 31 Test matches for India. “I think sometimes things do not always click for you and it is somewhat the case with Jaffer too,” he added.

Mhambrey also described Jaffer as friendly and helpful.

Jaffer was grateful to Mumbai cricket, where he scored most of his runs between 1996 and 2015. “I am thankful for being part of Mumbai cricket. It helped me grow as a cricketer every day as I went through the grind,” he said.

When asked if he thought of reaching this milestone when he began playing for Mumbai in Ranji, he said: “I was not even sure of playing the second Ranji match after failing on my debut for Mumbai. It really was difficult those days to keep your place in a strong team like Mumbai. But I was lucky to score a triple hundred (314 not out) in my second game and that perhaps brought me this long.”