Sheldon Jackson, the prolific Saurashtra batter, announced his retirement from professional cricket on Tuesday after successfully engaging in the tenets of the game for 15 years, with his last appearance ending in a defeat to Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy quarter final.
In 38, Jackson retired with more than 7200 runs in 105 first-class matches, with a high score of 186, including 21 hundreds and 39 fifties.
With a first-class career average of over 45, it says a lot about his consistency.
He has been a multiple dimension cricketer and has kept wickets when required in limited-overs for Saurashtra.
However, he was never required to do so in the longer version in the presence of Sagar Jogiyani.
Jackson was bowled out after scoring 14 and 27 runs in his last two innings as Gujarat won the match by an innings and 98 runs.
Jackson made his debut for Saurashtra in December 2011 after having been a part of the revamped Kolkata Knight Riders set-up, having been spotted by former Bengal player Joydeep Mukherjee.
After having on the brink of selection for his state team, Saurashtra, for over three years, he made his debut in December 2011.
In the 2012-13 Ranji season, he made four fifties and three centuries, with back-to-back centuries coming in the quarter-finals and semifinals against Karnataka and Punjab, respectively, which helped Saurashtra reach the final for the first time.
Because of his good form with the bat that year, he got selected for the India A team for the series against West Indies A at home. He was also a key member of Saurashtra’s second attempt towards a Ranji Trophy title in the 2015-16 season.
Last month, Jackson retired from the limited-overs cricket after scoring 2792 runs in 84 innings and his highest being an 133 not out during the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2022.
In all of his limited-overs games, he accumulated nine centuries and 14 half-centuries.
