Having spent his formative years in Mumbai, Saurashtra batsman Sheldon Jackson shares a special bond with the city. The love affair has trickled on to the cricket field while facing Mumbai, with Jackson scoring his fourth consecutive fifty against the domestic powerhouse to bail Saurashtra out of trouble on the second day of a Elite Ranji Trophy clash.
In his first six innings against Mumbai, Jackson tasted little success, tallying just 68 runs, including four single-digit scores. But ever since helping Rest of India chase down a mammoth target of 480 with an unbeaten 59 in the Irani Cup tie in March 2016, Jackson has found his mojo against Mumbai. He followed it up with 95 and 57 at the Wankhede Stadium in the last season’s Ranji Trophy tie.
What is it about facing Mumbai that gets the best out of the seasoned batsman? “I just find them an aggressive side and I enjoy scoring against them. Maybe I haven’t got the hundreds - I had two chances but missed it - but I have scored some crucial runs against them,” Jackson told Sportstar after his knock of 85 that tilted the balance in favour of Saurashtra.
Having crossed the 5,000-run mark in first class cricket earlier this season, Jackson may have missed out on his third hundred of the season - and 19th overall. But more than missing out on a ton, he was ruing his dismissal.
“More than missing out on a hundred, it would have been ideal to remain unbeaten today and take the game away from Mumbai tomorrow. Hopefully, Chirag can do that along with the lower order,” he said.
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