New Delhi: Former India batsman VVS Laxman on Sunday praised Wasim Jaffer and Murali Karthik, saying that the duo extended their love for the sport through stints in Ranji Trophy and county cricket respectively.
Laxman shared a photo of Jaffer and Karthik as part of his initiative of paying tribute to his teammates who influenced him immensely.
They didn’t play for India as much as they should have, but @WasimJaffer14 and @kartikmurali extended their romance with the sport through Ranji Trophy and county cricket respectively. They are the pioneers of a generation which chose to write its own cricketing destiny. pic.twitter.com/KulEPmKQLg
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) June 14, 2020
"They didn't play for India as much as they should have, but @WasimJaffer14 and @kartikmurali extended their romance with the sport through Ranji Trophy and county cricket respectively. They are the pioneers of a generation that chose to write its own cricketing destiny," Laxman tweeted.
The right-handed Jaffer played for Mumbai for most of his career and later also represented Vidarbha.
He played 260 first-class matches and accumulated 19,410 runs with the highest score of 314. He has 91 ton and 57 half-centuries to his name. He is the first player to play in 150 Ranji Trophy matches. He also became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in Ranji Trophy, a major domestic tournament in India.
Jaffer also played 31 Tests for India, managing to score 1,944 runs at an average of 34.11 with 11 fifties and five centuries.
He is one of the few Indian batsmen who has a double hundred in the West Indies. He made 212 against the hosts in St Lucia. Jaffer also donned the Indian jersey in two ODIs and scored 10 runs. On the other hand, Murali Karthik played 8 Tests, 37 ODIs and 1 T20I for India and managed to scalp 61 wickets across all formats.
Karthik is a veteran of county cricket as he represented Lancashire, Middlesex, Somerset and Surrey. He was a key overseas player in the county championship for many years. (ANI)
