While the announcement came in the middle of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, Jackson had been contemplating retirement for a while. He announced his decision to the team management prior to Saurashtra’s fixture against Punjab on December 31. Jackson featured in five one-day games this season, with the 71 he made against Puducherry in their tournament opener his highest.
“It’d been at the back of my mind from even before the tournament and I kept taking it game by game, but before the Punjab match, I told the team, but they wanted me to bow out on the field,” Jackson told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a very gracious move from them and I’m really thankful for that gesture.”
Saurashtra’s performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, where they won six out of seven group-stage fixtures to storm into the quarter-finals, convinced Jackson that he was done.
“I really don’t know for how long, but my immediate focus is to try and see if I can help contribute towards us making the knockouts. It’s tough but it’s still possible. And from there, I’ll reassess after the two games about my red-ball future”
Sheldon Jackson on his future in first-class cricket
“The way Saurashtra’s youngsters played during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy convinced me my time was up,” he said. “I didn’t find it right to be blocking someone’s spot. At 37-38, even if I score 5000 runs, I wasn’t going to be in the reckoning for the national team. Or say I scored ten ducks, the worse that would’ve happened is I’d be out of the state team.
“In that sense, there was no scope for growth. What’s the point in me holding on to my spot when it wasn’t going to lead me anywhere? I rang up Jaydev Shah [the Saurashtra Cricket Association president, who is currently in Australia as the India team manager] and expressed my thoughts and then communicated it to the captain [Jaydev Unadkat] and the coach [Niraj Odedra].”
Jackson didn’t feature in any of the T20 games at the Mushtaq Ali Trophy. It’s believed the team management had been keen on blooding younger players. As it turned out, a number of them, like Jay Gohil, Ruchit Ahir and Sammar Gajjar broke through.
“For the past two years, I hadn’t even been registering for the IPL auction,” Jackson said. “And in all honesty, the motivation for someone to be a part of SMAT, especially if you’re not in the reckoning for the Indian team, is to get an IPL gig. If I wasn’t even in the auctions, it felt pointless to simply soldier on and block a spot.
“Because even if I wasn’t going to be in the XI, chances are I’d be in the 15. And that’d mean blocking the place of one young player. So, in that sense, it really wasn’t a hard decision, the time was right.
“I’d communicated the same to the selectors a week before SMAT. I’m not entirely sure how it would’ve played out – whether I made their decision easier or if it was already decided I won’t be a part of it – but I’d decided the best thing to do was communicate clearly.”
Jackson isn’t done just yet with first-class cricket. A two-time Ranji Trophy winner and a veteran of 103 first-class games, he’s hopeful of being able to give Saurashtra a chance of winning their third title, however tough it may seem at this point. Saurashtra are currently jostling mid-table in Elite Group D and need to win both their remaining games, against Delhi and Assam, to have a chance of making the knockouts.
“I still want to keep going in first-class cricket, at least for these two games, and then take it from there,” Jackson said. “I really don’t know for how long. But my immediate focus is to try and see if I can help contribute towards us making the knockouts. It’s tough but it’s still possible. And from there, I’ll reassess after the two games about my red-ball future. I’ve had the complete support of the team and Jaydev and Niranjan Shah. I hope I can finish on a high.”
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
