Difficult to concentrate with father in hospital: Jaffer

Mumbai: Mumbai batsman Wasim Jaffer went into his side`s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Baroda here with his father critically ill but managed to score an unbeaten 137 and he said he had to switch his mind off the personal problem to concentrate on the game.

Asked about his mindset to play the match with his father in hospital, Jaffer said, "It is difficult. On the back of your mind, the personal thing always hinges around but that is life and you have to move on. While I am here, I try to put cricket on my mind and once you switch off, you think about family. "But family also plays an important role. My father is still unconscious. He is still critical. He would have loved to see me score a hundred. He is 77. It is unfortunate. But I am hoping he should regain consciousness and everything should be OK," he said after the end of first day`s play with Mumbai having scored 272 for three. He said his over 200-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar (108) was vital for Mumbai. "It is important that you score big in your first innings and set the game up. Sachin and my partnership was very vital, we had lost two quick wickets. This puts us in a good position. Hopefully we can carry on from here and set the game up," he said. The duo shared a 234-run stand for the third-wicket, after the home side were reduced for 35 for 2. In his 31st Ranji ton, Jaffer hit 16 fours and three sixes, against the reasonably inexperienced Baroda side. On the target that they have in mind, Jaffer said "500-600. The bigger the better." Asked if Baroda resorted to negative bowling to distract the two senior players (Jaffer and Tendulkar), he said, "They had limited bowling options. Two fast bowlers and one decent spinner, so they had to play that (negative) tactic. "But we haven`t scored 350. Run-wise they have checked us at a good rate but we have only lost three wickets and have two good batters to come in and the tail can bat too. So we are looking at a decent score." PTI