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Sheldon Jackson couldn't contribute too significantly with the bat for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2022 but he was a livewire behind the stumps. He constantly motivated his players to give their best and was quite accurate with his glovework.
The 35-year-old earned accolades from many in the cricketing fraternity, including the great Sachin Tendulkar himself. The Little Master tweeted that Jackson's speed reminded him of MS Dhoni. To be compared to such a legend is certainly a huge thing for any wicketkeeper.
Speaking in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Sheldon Jackson spoke about how happy he was after receiving such a compliment. He also shared how hard he has worked on his wicketkeeping, saying:
"That (glove speed) is one thing that comes very naturally to me. Because my basics were as a tennis ball cricketer. So keeping over there helped me with my hand speed."
He added:
"Getting compared to Dhoni sir, when I heard it, I was really over the moon, I was so happy that someone has noticed my abilities and have become vocal about it. I agree that I never did well with the bat, but I did very well with the gloves and there weren’t many people who even mentioned it."
Sheldon Jackson also shed light on some of his fine moments behind the stumps that proved to be decisive for KKR. He added:
"There were three matches that I almost turned with the gloves. One was the Robin Uthappa stumping, the Rohit Sharma catch and the RCB game, we didn’t win it but we took it to the 20th over and in that I caught Sherfane Rutherford. I feel people always emphasize on the negatives and don’t see the positives. So I took this positive back from the IPL that if I work on my keeping, things could get better for me."
Jackson certainly displayed his supreme wicketkeeping skills in the five matches he played. He will hope to carry on this form in the future.
Brendon McCullum was just like magnet, everyone gets attached: Sheldon Jackson
Sheldon Jackson also spoke about former KKR head coach Brendon McCullum. He shared how the former batter took care of his players even when they weren't having the best of times.
The New Zealand legend has left KKR to coach the England Test team, but Jackson will always carry with him whatever he has learnt from McCullum. He stated:
"To be honest, I love McCullum a lot. The way he took care of his players and management when were not doing well, everything was very neutral in the KKR setup. For that to happen, you need a very levelled coach."
He added:
"The atmosphere was very calm and he was very approachable whenever you wanted to talk, leave a message, go to his room. These are the things that are the qualities of a good coach and he has all of them. He is just a magnet, people get attached very easily to him."
Sheldon Jackson hasn't yet given up on the dream of playing for India one day and will continue to let his bat do the talking in domestic cricket.
