Former Indian Test opener Wasim Jaffer reckons Saransh Jain is a better bowler than Washington Sundar ahead of the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Jain replaced injured Sundar for the Test series against the Islanders after the latter was ruled out with a hamstring injury, which he suffered in the second ODI against England.
Jain had recently impressed with both bat and ball in a red-ball game against Sri Lanka A while playing at Galle International Cricket Stadium, Galle, which is the venue for the first Test between the two teams
The left-handed batter scored a crucial knock of 70 runs while batting at number seven in the second game against the hosts and he also scalped six wickets across two innings.
Jain has featured in 54 first-class matches, taking 188 wickets at an average of 27.3 with his offspin. The southpaw has also amassed 2223 runs at an average of 31.75, scoring 14 half-centuries and two hundreds.
Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube Channel, “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 also praised Jain for his seam presentation and compared him with former Indian off-spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh.
“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.”
The former domestic giant added that it is good to see that players are being rewarded for their impressive domestic performance.
“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.”
Galle will host the first Test between India and Sri Lanka from August 15.
