‘Pioneers of a generation,’ VVS Laxman’s high praise for Jaffer, Kartik

Even though Jaffer and Kartik didn’t have the most memorable of runs with the Indian team, they were giants of First-Class and County cricket.

VVS Laxman on Sunday paid tributes to domestic veterans Wasim Jaffer and Murali Kartik for their contributions towards Indian cricket. Even though Jaffer and Kartik didn’t have the most memorable of runs with the Indian team, they were giants of First-Class and County cricket, which Laxman acknowledged.

Wasim Jaffer and VVS Laxman run between the wickets against West Indies in 2006. (Getty Images)

“They didn’t play for India as much as they should have, but @WasimJaffer14 and @kartikmurali extended their romance with the sport through Ranji Trophy and county cricket respectively. They are the pioneers of a generation which chose to write its own cricketing destiny,” Laxman tweeted.

Jaffer played 31 Tests and two ODIs for India, while Kartik represented India in eight Tests and 37 ODIs. However, Jaffer was best known for being a Ranji Trophy behemoth, playing 150 matches and becoming the first batsman to score 12000 runs.

In a First-Class career spanning 25 years, Jaffer scored 19410 runs from 260 matches with 91 hundreds and 57 half-centuries. For India, Jaffer scored 1944 Test runs at an average of 34.11 with five centuries – two of which were double tons – and 11 fifties.

Kartik tasted success playing County cricket in England. He represented Lancashire, Middlesex, Surrey and Somerset. Kartik played 203 first-class games and took 644 wickets at an average of 26.70. Nearly a third of those wickets were for English county sides Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey and Lancashire. He was part of Middlesex’s T20 winning squad in 2008 and finished runner-up twice – with Somerset in 2010 and 2011.