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Hailing from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, Sheldon Jackson played junior cricket in Mumbai. He was spotted at the Kolkata Knight Riders’ trails by Joydeep Mukherjee. After being on the edges of selection for his state team, Saurashtra, for a considerable time, he made his debut in December 2011.
Sheldon Jackson is multifaceted: apart from being a solid batter and a fantastic fielder, he additionally keeps wickets.
Since his top-notch debut for Saurashtra, he has been one of the most consistent performers in the domestic circuit. The batter has scored 5947 first-class runs at an average of 50.39.
He featured in the top-10 list of most runs scored in the 2021–2022 season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In six matches, he scored 271 runs with an average of 67.75.
“Saurashtra is a very small state. It’s very work ethic oriented. We have been very consistent throughout the years. In the last ten years, we have played 6-7 finals. The new president that has come in has taken all the steps in the right direction for cricket.
His first major call-up was for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He recalled the call-up, saying: “I was very happy to be with RCB. I was still raw back then. Being a part of the same team that consisted of Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, and Chris Gayle-these are the greats people look up to. So, I was very happy to be with them. Their work ethic was very inspiring.”
He also shared a tale of his selection for KKR in 2013 and the role that Gautam Gambhir played in it. He said that the call-up changed his life forever as it not only offered him the chance to hobnob with the best in the game but also stabilised his life.
“He is the best! He is a very honest and truthful person. He will always be very honest with you, and on your face, you will not like his answers because he is being honest with you. But that helps you grow. He has helped me immensely and, till date, he has helped me. I give a lot of credit for my growth as a cricketer to him. He was the one who saw me play in a Ranji Trophy match and encouraged me to join KKR. Sheldon said, “He is the best, my inspiration, and one of my favourites.”
He likewise thanked the owners for showing immense faith in him: “I am very grateful to the owners: Jay Mehta, Juhi Ma’am, Janhvi Mehta, and Shahrukh Khan Sir. I can live a decent and particular life. That helped me in a lot of ways: exposure, financially; it has helped me a lot.”
Kolkata Knight Riders had named Shreyas Iyer as the captain of their side. Shreyas Iyer has been viewed as a player of character and distinct performances. Sheldon Jackson spoke about what it was like to play under the captaincy of the 27-year-old:
“With him, it brought a lot of flamboyance in his approach. I told him that I wanted to learn from you: the way you carry yourself and your body language. Whether he scores a hundred or a zero, his confidence is always high. The brand of cricket that we played was good to see. You cannot always win, and you cannot always lose. People always want you to win, which is practically not possible. For me, Shreyas Iyer was very fresh. I really liked playing under him.”
Thank you so much bhaiya, for guiding me always 🙏❤️ @GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/DbQ6dRmJzS
— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) May 18, 2022
Sheldon Jackson and MS Dhoni were in inverse camps on Day 1 of 2022. While Sheldon was keeping wickets for KKR, Dhoni carried out his standard responsibility behind the stumps for CSK.
In his first match as KKR wicketkeeper, Jackson contributed to a splendid stumping of Chennai Super Kings batter Robin Uthappa off the bowling of Varun Chakravarthy. The rapidity of Jackson’s keeping behind the stumps reminded Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar of MS Dhoni.
“After the match, when we got back our phones, someone said, ‘Sachin Sir, has tweeted about you.’ That moment was surreal for me. For him to even tweet about a cricketer like me and to even think of me being in the same bracket as MS bhai made me feel very happy. That was the peak of happiness,” said the 35-year-old.
Thank you so much @sachin_rt sir, it’s one of my biggest achievements to get such a compliment from you 🙏🏼 . Very Greatfull to you sir🙏 https://t.co/2O334y9dfQ
— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) March 26, 2022
For Saurashtra, Sheldon bats at No.3/4, but for Kolkata Knight Riders he has prepared to play down the order: “As a cricketer, when you go to a team, you must be prepared for the position they want you to play. I knew I had to bat lower in the order if I wanted to get a place. When I went in for the first match, I was told by Brendon that this is how we were looking at you. I was not short of commitment or work ethic, but my intent and mindset was always to make the team win. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but it is by the barest of margins.”
Sheldon Jackson copped trolling via social media after KKR’s loss against the Rajasthan Royals. He was hurled abuse by fans who blamed him for KKR’s loss. This isn’t the first-time individuals via social media have crossed lines while criticising a player on his off day.
“The trolling and the abuse I got were so new to me. After my first match, Sachin Sir tweeted about me. I was at the top of the world, and after one match, I was down in the dumps. I didn’t know what to do. If you are batting at that number, there are chances that you will fail more than succeed. And I was okay to do that. The result never came my way, but my intent and approach were never on the back-foot,” he said.
“At that time, except for my family, I did not have many people by my side. I wanted to talk to people, but I was not sure to whom I could talk. I spoke to Harbhajan Singh. I remember him giving 45–50 minutes of his precious time while he was doing commentary. At this level, this is the first time something like that has happened. Harbhajan bhaiya (Harbhajan Singh), Apoorv Desai, Joydeep Mukherjee—they stood up from the front and guided me. I am very grateful to them. I thought after the CSK match, when I had the entire world by my side, after the RR match, I thought I was alone. I really thank the KKR owners as well for the support.”
“This was not the first match someone didn’t win. I am an extremely emotional and sensitive person, which I later realised I cannot be at this level. But that’s my upbringing, that’s my culture. When I changed nearly three games with my wicket-keeping, people didn’t really talk then. For these moments, you have to work day in and day out. Many people do not know what goes on behind the scenes,” he added.
The vital aspect in sports is to never give up. The one that shows will-power becomes the pillar of support that holds their success. It isn’t easy being an athlete – confronting defeat, adapting to pressure, handling victories. It requires a lot of persistence and a ton of hard work.
Sheldon says, “A lot of people wanted me to quit. A lot of people said I don’t belong at this level or that I don’t have the confidence to play at this level. But all I thought was that no one else deserved it more than me. For whatever reason, maybe I could not make the best of my opportunities. I have never had anything easy in my life. Even the IPL never came easy to me.”
“Running away and quitting is not me because people, at times, may not understand that I have a very young family to take care of. I am looking to do the hard yards again; I am willing to work even harder. I am not the one who is going to run away. I am not willing to be done in this fashion. There is a lot of cricket left in me,” he signed off.
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