Angry MCA takes up Jaffer's exclusion with BCCI

Mumbai Cricket Association officials are furious with the national selection committee which once again chose to ignore run-machine Wasim Jaffer. Even as Wasim Jaffer marched to another ton in the Irani Cup, news of his exclusion from the India team for the Australia series must have reached his ears. And his muted celebration after reaching his 48th first-class said it all. Jaffer didn’t have much to say after the game but Mumbai Cricket Association’s joint secretary Nitin Dalal gave the selectors a piece of his mind in the DNA: “We were looking forward to seeing his name in the squad. Every time we thought the selectors would pick him, they disappointed. [caption id=“attachment_620517” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Wasim Jaffer. PTI[/caption] “In fact, he could not play the whole Ranji Trophy season but he still managed to score so many runs. He scored 80 and a hundred in Irani Cup against a quality attack. What else do you want?” Indeed, what else do the selectors want? Abhishek Nayar, who got a late call-up for the tour games against Australia after being ignored earlier, also found the decision to not pick Jaffer a little baffling. “Jaffer is one of the best Indian batsmen around and it is obviously disappointing for us that he’s not selected,” said Nayar, who captained Mumbai in the Irani Cup. According to a report in The Indian Express, the age factor worked against Jaffer. “We picked Dhawan because we wanted to look ahead. The lad has been batting consistently well in domestic cricket and has also scored big in domestic cricket and has also scored big for India A. Also we wanted to maintain the left-right combination (at the top). Dhawan is a very good fielder,” a selector told The Indian Express. But wouldn’t one prefer to look forward with a head start – because that is what Jaffer has over Murli Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan. Jaffer made 835 runs in 7 Ranji matches and followed it up with an 80 and a 100 in the Irani Cup. Dhawan began the season well but ended up with 461 runs in 7 matches and had scored of 63 and 0 in the Irani Cup. Murali Vijay, on the other hand, was already part of the squad but his record (5 matches, 138 runs) this Ranji season has been abysmal. Looking for a long-term solution is all well and good. But before you start thinking about the future, you have to take care of the present. Can the selectors honestly say that they have done that?