The hamstring injury to Sundar opened the doors for Jain’s selection.
The hamstring injury to Washington Sundar opened the doors for Jain’s selection. At 33, he became the oldest to receive a maiden India Test call-up in this century.
Ahead of the Sri Lanka series, former India opener Wasim Jaffer has made a bold comment, calling uncapped Saransh a better spinner than Sundar.
As Sri Lanka’s batting lineup includes several left-handers, Jaffer believes India needed a genuine off-spinner. He mentioned that while Sundar might be the superior batter, Saransh holds an edge as a bowler.
“Sri Lanka have quite a few left-handers, so you need a genuine off-spinner. Washington Sundar is not fit, but I think he (Saransh Jain) is a better bowler than Sundar. Washington may be the better batter, but as a bowler, Saransh has real quality. I'm also happy that the selectors looked beyond his age and picked him purely on merit,” Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.
Jaffer was not surprised by Saransh Jain’s selection, considering his consistent performances in domestic cricket.
“I'm not surprised because this guy has been performing consistently in domestic cricket, especially in red-ball cricket. He's a workman-like cricketer who comes in and does his job consistently in the longer format. He's a bit of an old-school spinner. You won't see too many variations from him, but he has the consistency to keep hitting the same spot. His seam presentation is excellent, something we've seen from bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh. So, I think it's a good selection,” he added.
Since making his first-class debut in the 2014-15 season, Saransh Jain has played 54 matches so far, scoring more than 2,000 runs at an average of 31.75 while picking up 188 wickets at 27.30.
The national call-up comes after he impressed on the recent India A tour of Sri Lanka, claiming six wickets across two matches and scoring an unbeaten 70 in conditions similar to those expected in the Test series.
For Jaffer, it was heartening to see Jain getting rewarded with opportunities at the international level for his brilliance in domestic circuit.
“Last season, he scored over 500 runs and picked up more than 30 wickets, so he has the performances under his belt. It's good to see that players who perform well in domestic cricket are being rewarded. I'm happy for Saransh Jain because he's a very good cricketer who has earned this opportunity through his performances,” Jaffer remarked.