In a time when the Indian cricket team has been struggling to find a tangible and a specialist opener, one man just keeps waiting with a
ray of bright hope. The man in question is Wasim Jaffer, one of the best opening batsmen in Mumbai and at large in India. If at all Mumbai has been back from the dumps to re-emerge as Champions in two successive attempts, a major contribution has come from the steady opening batting of Wasim Jaffer. Ever since this young man wore the Mumbai cap for the first time against Gujarat in 1996-97, 'looking back' have been two words that don't have a mention in his dictionary.

As mentioned above, Wasim made his debut for Mumbai against Gujarat in 1996-97 at the Wankhede Stadium, and scored 11. Even his short stay at the crease was good enough for showcasing his talents. In just his second game for Mumbai against Saurashtra at Rajkot, his finesse and class was shown as he went on to make a score of 314 - a world record for a player to score a first class triple hundred at 18 and thus justifying the faith showed by the Mumbai selectors and skipper Sanjay Manjrekar. Thus, Wasim Jaffer announced his arrival into Indian cricket in such a grand fashion. Soon after his bulky run scoring for Mumbai in the Ranji games, a Duleep Trophy debut for West Zone against South Zone in 1997/98 beckoned Wasim and he did make a hundred on his Duleep debut. His impressive run for Mumbai and West Zone in the Domestic circuit was noticed by the national selectors and this earned him an early India A (one day) cap as he played the SAARC Quadrangular Tournament in Bangladesh. He was also chosen to play for the Board Presidents XI against the visiting Sri Lankans in 1997/98. He was going through the best period in his career as he scored heavily for Mumbai, West Zone, India A and the clubs he was playing. Initially one felt that his patient and hard working efforts were going unnoticed by the selectors, but Wasim was finally given the chance to represent India, something that remained a dream for him until it came true. He made his debut for India against the South Africans, and it was indeed a disappointing start for the youngster. Unperturbed, he went back to first-class and did what he knew best - score heavily and hope for the selectors to notice his knocks. And it did come true when he was picked for the tour of West Indies after his late return to domestic form in 2002/03. He tried to cement his place in the Indian team through some good scores like 86 he made against the West Indies at Antigua, but the selectors thought otherwise. If the selectors gave it a real thought, now that openers are an issue of concern, Wasim is the right man for the job.

His specialties lie in the powerful yet classy strokes he plays. Wasim has always been known to play the spinners well with his nimble feet. The secret to scoring so many runs at the domestic level for Wasim is consistency. If at all any opener wanted to know all about being consistent, its best to ask Wasim bhai. Besides him being a quality batsman, Wasim is also an extremely agile fielder and mainly fields in the gully and short leg regions. During his stint with the Indian team in 2002, he took one or two catches in England, which were a testament to the amount of work Wasim puts into his fielding. Besides being a Mumbai, West Zone and India man, Wasim represents National Cricket Club in the Mumbai club cricket competitions and Indian Oil, his employers in the Times Shield.

At the moment, Wasim is in red hot form, and this must be a stern enough warning for the opposition. And if this form gets redder by the day, Wasim could well be back in the Indian side, something that he would like anyday. The reason I call him a never-say-die campaigner is simply because hope is something he lives and sleeps with and confidence is something he carries with him. Hope with belief and confidence could be all it takes for Wasimbhai to make a return to the Indian team, especially when they are searching for a quality opener.

We at Cricketfundas.com would like to wish Wasim Jaffer all the very best for the upcoming season and hopes that this run-scoring machine could well be the perfect solution for India's opening woes.