Somethings in cricket go hand-in-hand. Like the Jaffer’s, and their representation for Mumbai at various levels. Wasim Jaffer represented Mumbai for several years at the domestic level, before finally making it to the Indian team. His nephew Armaan Jaffer broke into the Mumbai domestic team at a young age too.
Kaleem Jaffer is a renowned coach in Mumbai cricketing circles, and now, it is his daughter Fatima Jaffer’s turn to take the family tradition forward. The youngster will play for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming WPL 2024.
“I was around seven or eight when I first started to play cricket. It was my father’s decision. He asked me to play cricket, because he wanted one of the girls from the family to play cricket,” she told Mumbaiindians.com.
“He never stopped me from doing anything. He always encouraged me to play cricket. Even when I’m not doing well, he comes up to me and encourages me. There’s no major difference between Kaleem Jaffer the father and Kaleem Jaffer the coach. We mostly discuss only cricket even at home.”
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Fatima’s Added Skill
But she’s more than just Wasim Jaffer’s niece, and has carved her own space. She is a right-arm fast-bowler, and is also left-arm spinner, apart from being a decent batter. “I got into the Mumbai side as a right-arm pacer. But in the first match that I played, three of our spinners got called for chucking,” she explains.
“My then coach knew that I used to practice left arm spin, not as a profession, just for fun. So he came up to me and asked me if I could bowl it in the match. The first ever match I bowled in as a left-arm spinner, I got three wickets. Then I got five in the next game.”
