India are known to produce a bunch of cricketers every year of which many succeed in making a place in Team India through the Indian Premier League (IPL) and many through domestic cricket. But many players are not able to make a place in spite of good performance. Players like Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran are making a lot of headlines these days.
Meanwhile, another domestic cricketer Sheldon Jackson who has been consistently performing in the domestic circuit talked about not getting selected for the national team despite performing well in the domestic scene. Jackson said that he deserves to get a place in the squad for his constant performance for the last 3 seasons in domestic cricket.
“I have a right to believe and dream that if I have performed for 3 continuous seasons, I may get picked on the basis of my performances, not age, tired of hearing this that I'm a good player and performer but I'm old, I'm 35 not 75,” Jackson was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
I get motivated when I see Dinesh Karthik: Sheldon Jackson
Jackson further added and said that age is not a problem in getting a place in the squad as players like MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik have continued to play despite getting older. Talking about Karthik, he made a stunning comeback to Team India last year at the age of 37 while Dhoni led the Chennai Super Kings to a record fifth IPL title this year at age 41.
“I get motivated when I see Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni. I was with him (Karthik) at KKR and I have seen his entire transformation. He is a true inspiration for me and at the stage of my career that I am he is a motivation to me,” he said.
"If you don't get the chance where you will make an impact? I can never comment on anyone's selection. I can only ask about myself, that is why I have not got picked. I will never call a selector and ask why am I not picked. If I was not good enough, I wouldn't have played 90+ games with an average close to fifty. My red ball stats and white ball stats are two different things,” he further stated.