Sheldon Jackson ‘heartbroken’ after being left out of India’s tour of Sri Lanka

Sheldon Jackson, who plays for Saurashtra in India’s domestic circuit, was disappointed after being left out of India’s tour of Sri Lanka in July. Starting July 13, the Men in Blue are set to play three ODIs and as many T20Is in the Island nation. On Thursday, June 10, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named a 20-member squad with a number of youngsters getting a chance.

Shikhar Dhawan has been named as the skipper with Bhuvneshwar Kumar being his deputy. Even as one national team is in England for the World Test Championship final and the five-match Test series against England, the BCCI named a second-string team for the Lanka tour.

Jackson felt that he should have been picked in the limited-overs team, bearing in mind his performances. After the squad was announced, the 34-year-old dropped a ‘heartbroken’ emoticon to express his sheer grief and disappointment.

Here’s Sheldon Jackson’s tweet:

💔

— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) June 10, 2021

India Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (VC), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Krishnappa Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya

Jackson is one of the four players to score more than 750 runs in a single edition of the Ranji Trophy four times. However, he has kept being overlooked and hasn’t been picked even for the India A teams.

“I’m 34. If I’m performing well, better than a 22-23-year-old, where is it written in the laws of the game that you’re not eligible to get picked for the national team? Who are those people judging you, and on ability are they judging you? By Ranji score? Fitness?” Jackson told to Cricket Next.

“If you’re scoring 800-900 runs consistently for two-three seasons, it means you have to be fit. Or you won’t be able to sustain it. So how can you be judged? Many a time I hear that ‘he’s above 30’. Where is it written that you can’t be picked? And who are these people who are taking away your right from you?” he stated.

In 76 first-class, 60 List A, and 59 T20s, Jackson has notched 5634, 2096, and 1240 runs respectively with 27 centuries and 44 half-centuries.