Sheldon Jackson thanked India captain Virat Kohli for inspiring him to work extra hard over his fitness, which he reaped the rewards of during Saurashtra's maiden successful Ranji Trophy season.
The 33-year-old right-hand batsman was consistent throughout the campaign, scoring 809 runs at a fantastic average of 50.56 with three hundreds, and he says following Kohli's ways with regards to his fitness definitely helped.
"It was actually the Virat story that inspired me. With the exemplary skills that he has, if he still thought he needed to get fitter then we are nothing in front of him," PTI quoted Jackson, who was part of the RCB squad in IPL 2013 alongside Kohli.
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"The people who helped me were normal gym trainers. My friends, who used to work out with me in Ahmedabad, they used to see that I was working hard but not getting the results."
"Till last year I used to eat anything, all possible junk, but they (gym trainers) were the ones who taught me to eat well to perform. It has benefited me hugely in my recovery and strength," he added.
Jackson, who works for the Income Tax Office in Ahmedabad during the off-season, made over 800 runs even last year in the Ranji Trophy, but felt he was lacking on the fitness front. "I thought cricket was a skill game but I was totally wrong," he said. "Cricket is a skill game which needs a lot of fitness because if you are fit, you can perform well under pressure, especially when your body is tired."
A veteran of 76 first-class games, Jackson has at times felt depressed during his career on being consistently rejected by the national selectors despite scoring a lot of runs. However, the desperation to one day wear the India jersey hasn't at all faded away.
"I believe that due importance has to be given to Ranji performances," he said. "Even Cheteshwar Pujara (his teammate) has spoken about it and if he said it, it has to have substance."
"We have not won a lot of trophies over the last 10 years but we have been consistently reaching the finals. It is sad that Saurashtra is looked (at) as a small team. I hope this perception changes sooner than later."
"We are performing year after year and players need to get opportunities. First-class cricket in India is so tough that it is hard to just make the knockouts, let alone reaching the final," added Jackson, who also played down talks around his age.
"I have been hearing a lot about my age ever since I turned 30. It is written nowhere that you can't play (at a higher level) after 30 but with the talent that India has, it is very easy to be overlooked. I am against this mindset but it is what it is."
(Inputs from PTI)
