He was a stalwart in Indian domestic cricket.
Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy 2024-25 came to an end on Tuesday with a defeat by an innings 98 runs to Gujarat in the quarterfinals. Just as their campaign came to an end, curtain fell on the career of one of Saurashtra’s greatest batters.
Sheldon Jackson walked off the pitch for the final time, having played 18 years for Saurashtra and scoring over 10,000 runs across all formats for them.
Jackson, who had regularly kept wickets for his domestic side, had played a pivotal role in their Vijay Hazre Trophy win in 2022 with an unbeaten 133 in the final against Maharashtra.
Jackson was also part of the Saurashtra side that lifted the Ranji Trophy in 2020 and in 2023.
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Jackson has played 106 First-Class matches and scored 7,283 runs at an average of 45, which include 21 hundreds and 39 fifties.
The 38-year-old had announced his retirement from white-ball cricket earlier in January this year, having played 86 List-A matches and scoring 2,792 runs at an average of 36.2 including nine hundreds and 14 half centuries.
Jackson has also played 84 T20s in total and scored 1,812 runs at a strike rate of 120 and an average of 27.
The Saurashtra keeper-batter’s career in the Indian Premier League (IPL) never kicked off despite being signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for the second edition of the tournament in 2009 itself. He got his chance to play only in 2017, when he made four appearances for the then two-time champions and scored 38 runs from three innings. Five years later, he played five matches for the franchise and scored only 23 runs.
Jackson’s farewell was a bitter one as he scored 14 and 27 in the Ranji quarterfinal against state rivals Gujarat. Saurashtra looked buoyed by the return of allrounder Ravindra Jadeja who claimed 12 wickets in the round six group match against Delhi and then demolished Assam by an innings and 144 runs in the final round to reach the quarters.
Jackson retires as the only third Saurashtra player after Sitanshu Kotak and Cheteshwar Pujara, to have scored over 6,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy.
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