Armaan Jaffer modelled himself on his uncle Wasim. For, the India Test opener was his “second” idol. First being the legendary batsman, Sachin Tendulkar.
However, the 15-year-old is close to realising one of his biggest dreams — playing with his uncle and Tendulkar. Armaan was yesterday selected amongst the 30 probables for Mumbai Ranji Trophy team.
While Mumbai stalwart Jaffer holds the record for most centuries (32) and runs (9155) in Ranji Trophy, his nephew Armaan holds the record for highest score in inter-school cricket.
‘It’s unbelievable’
Armaan was literally short of words on being asked to describe his feelings. “I don’t know what to say. It is just unbelievable. My father (Kalim) always had a dream that Wasimbhai and I play together. I am happy to fulfill it,” Armaan told MiD DAY.
Armaan first shot to limelight when he scored a magnificent 498 for his school Rizvi Springfield in the Giles Shield (U-14) final in 2010. Earlier this year, Armaan entered the records books once again after slamming 473 in the Harris Shield (U-16) final against VN Sule Guruji, surpassing Sarfaraz Khan’s 439. Sarfaraz, who made it to the India U-19 squad a few days ago, was also included in the Mumbai Ranji probables.
Incidentally, Wasim also held the same record once when he scored 403 in a Harris Shield match. Armaan did not expect a Ranji call-up this year. “I am thrilled to imagine that I will be practicing with Sachin Sir, Wasim bhai, Ajit Sir, etc.
I did not expect it (selection in 30 probables) to happen this year. I am pleasantly surprised. Now, that I am in the probables, I will work harder to get selected in the playing XI,” he signed off.
Mumbai’s probables: Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar, Wasim Jaffer, Armaan Jaffer, Zaheer Khan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Suryakumar Yadav, Iqbal Abdulla, Aditya Tare, Hiken Shah, Kshemal Waingankar, Kaustubh Pawar, Siddhesh Lad, Vishal Dabholkar, Ramesh Powar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Javed Khan, Shardul Thakur, Saurabh Netrawalkar, Akhil Herwadkar, Sarfaraz Khan, Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr.), Sagar Kerkar, Sufiyan Shaikh, Sarvesh Damle, Atul Singh, Pratik Dabholkar and Avishkar Salvi.
source: http://www.mid-day.com / Mid- Day / Home> Sports> Cricket / by Harit n. Joshi / Mumbai – June 26th, 2013