Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer has been appointed as the chief coach of Odisha senior cricket team, informed the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) on Wednesday.
"The Cricket Advisory Committee of Odisha Cricket Association has appointed Wasim Jaffer as the Chief Coach of Odisha Cricket Association for the Season 2021-22 & 2022-23," a release issued by OCA said.
"Wasim Jaffer is one of the legends of Indian cricket who hails from Mumbai and holds a very impressive playing & coaching profile. He has played for Mumbai and Vidarbha Cricket Association in the BCCI Domestic Cricket tournaments," the release added.
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He has played 31 test matches for India and scored 1944 runs (100-5nos & 50-11 nos) with a highest score of 212 runs in a single innings. He has also played two One-Day International Matches for India. In addition to this, he has also played in the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers, Bangalore in 2008 and 2009.
Apart from boasting the record of the highest run-scorer in First Class cricket, he also holds the record of playing the highest number of first-class matches (260) by an Indian and has accumulated a total of 19410 runs (100-57 nos & 50-91 nos) with a highest single innings score of 314*.
He has also played 118 nos of List-A matches accumulating 4849 runs (100-10 nos & 50-33 nos) in the process with a highest single innings score of 178*.
The 43-year-old former right-handed opening batsman and occasional right arm off-break bowler holds the record of the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy tournament.
Jaffer was roped in by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) as the batting coach in 2019. In March 2020, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. In June that year, Jaffer was announced the head coach of Uttarakhand for 2020–21 season. However, he stepped down in February 2021 citing interference and bias in the team selection.
"Jaffer had expressed his interest to become coach of the Odisha cricket team and applied for the post. OCA secretary had personally invited him and held talks with him. His interview was conducted by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) as per the procedure. Subsequently, the CAC approved his appointment as the coach of the senior team," said OCA CEO Subrat Behera.