Opening gambit

There is a hint of happiness in his voice as Wasim Jaffer talks about the 2001-02 tour of the West Indies. "That was the first time I had actually scored some runs in international cricket, so I've some sweet memories," said Jaffer last week, just hours before taking off once again to the Caribbean to join the rest of the Indian squad for the four-Test series.

The lack of runs in his debut series against South Africa in 1999-2000, where he was ill-equipped to face the pace and menace of Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, had relegated him to the domestic level. Jaffer pushed his case for a second comeback after being in the top rungs of the domestic run-ladder. And the desperate selectors couldn't ignore him for the West Indies trip which, in the end, turned out to be an average one for the Mumbai opener - he accumulated 156 runs at 31 in three Tests with two fifties. But on the tour of England, that followed immediately, his feet of clay rendered him impotent against the moving ball and he had to return once again to the domestic scene.

At that time Jaffer was 24, still coming to terms with the demands of international cricket. Fast forward four years to the present and he is back in the Indian squad. At 28, he is at an age where a man starts thinking of putting all the pieces in the right place. "When I made my debut against South Africa the importance of playing for the country was not there," Jaffer reveals. "That is very important - the maturity I have now would have benefited me five years back." He has a bit of a contemplative streak in him and a reading habit, both of which have helped him cope and evolve. "My favourite book is Viv Richards's autobiography. I like it so much that I've read it many times. I usually like reading cricket books in my free time. It helps me learn about the past greats, what they went through to get there, and pick up a few things on the way."

The lack of a consistent opening pair has been India's Achilles heel for a long time. From the time Jaffer made his debut back at the turn of the millennium, India have tried 16 openers including him; in terms of pairing there have been 22. It's definitely a gaping hole at the top, something that none of the contenders have been able to fix. It has left Jaffer perpetually in the reckoning, a telephone call away from indulging yet another selector's intuition.

He was included in the squad for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the beginning of the 2005-06 season but didn't play, and once again machinations deprived him of playing any Test on the Pakistan trip. But he waited patiently for the moment of reckoning that eventually came in Nagpur, in the first Test against Andrew Flintoff's England. Biding his time well and surviving the new ball, Jaffer washed away the sad memories of Lord's and Nottingham with a hardworking 81 and showed his steely resolve with a well-deserved maiden Test century in the second innings. "I had got three 50s before I got my maiden century and I could've converted all three times into three figures. But lack of concentration didn't help me at all". Sadly, once again the consistency was missing as he failed to capitalise in the next two Tests in the series.

Unfortunately for him, Jaffer has failed to bring the same kind of maturity and authority that he displays in piling big scores against domestic teams to his international game. He has consistently been the No.1 run-getter for Mumbai over the past few seasons; the opposition look at him as a prized wicket. Take the 2005-06 first-class season - Jaffer was the leading run-getter with a tally of 1174 runs at 65 from 11 games, with a highest of 267 that came in the Ranji Trophy season-opener against Delhi.

Admitting that it would help him loosen up if he walks into a Test with the same mindset that he does for a domestic game, Jaffer says that the marked difference could be because of the attention and expectations. He just has to turn back a few chapters in his career book to look for the answers, he feels. "The more Tests I play, the easier it would get. It was the same at the first-class level when I began my career, but now I am more at ease and relaxed during the domestic games."

On the upcoming challenge in the Carribean he is optimistic but also cautious. "I need to get used to playing on these wickets and realise that run-scoring may not be as fast as it is back home. I will need to be much more patient and wait for my runs. It's not going to be easy scoring fast if the wickets are similar to the one-day tracks. I haven't had much practice before coming here (just recovered from a shin operation) but I've thought about it. Hopefully I don't need too much time to adjust," he says.

One of the most stylish and wristy batsman around, Jaffer is a delight to watch, especially his drives on the off and square of the wicket on the back foot. His flaw, a major one at that, has always been his inability to move forward, something that fast bowlers have preyed on. Jaffer's coach, Sudhir Naik, feels that if his lad can see off the new ball, then he is on for the big one. Jaffer doesn't offer any excuses. "Yes, that was one way I was getting out, but I've improved quite a lot from that series in England, and still am working hard on it." Echoing Naik's advice, he says: "The priority is to see the new ball off."

Another weak link, a recent one, has been his awkwardness against spin - he was seen to be indecisive against the crafty Monty Panesar. Jaffer brushes aside the fears and instead feels that it was a matter of confidence. "It was my comeback series and I didn't want to take many chances, though Monty bowled well and one had to give him that respect."

No other modern-day specialist Indian opener has had so many opportunities. Time may soon run out for him if he doesn't clinch his chance this time. After the Caribbean tour and before the World Cup next year, India have only one Test series - the away tour in South Africa. In 2007, they are scheduled to play Bangladesh and then there is the England tour. Jaffer knows what he has to do to keep him from fading away without having made his mark.

Reflecting on the days when he was first dropped Jaffer says: "I was in a sort of a bubble when I played for the country for the first time. It came just came very quickly and it hit me very hard when I got dropped."

This time round, he is fresh. His head is shaved now - no, he's not making any new fashion statement. Just before his Caribbean trip, he went on an umrah to Mecca. "I had got a Saudi Arabia visa because I was supposed to play a cricket match (Pakistan v Rest of Asia) in Jeddah. The match got postponed, so i decided to go there anyway and visit Mecca. It was my first time there. I am not hardcore religious but I do what is necessary. I read namaaz every day and pray regularly," he explains.

Tomorrow, when he takes fresh guard against the young West Indies fast bowling line-up, he would be praying for a new beginning. And to move on.