I was a good batsman and a wicketkeeper too: Jan O Jorgensen

Danish World No. 5 Jan O’ Jorgensen is in India to participate in the India Open Super Series event. While doing an interview he made an interesting revelation about his interest in cricket.

Jan O’ Jorgensen was quoted as saying by TOI, “”I used to play cricket,”, to everyone’s surprise. “It’s a very small game in Denmark but my grandfather and father used to play and I got hooked on to it. I used to play the U-13s. One of my cousins almost became a professional in South Africa and I used to play regularly with him.”

The 26-year-old Danish badminton player mentioned Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar and the Waugh brothers in his interview.

“I was a good batsman and a wicket-keeper too. I don’t follow it so much now but I used to like Shane Warne and the Waugh brothers. I would love to catch a match here but I’ve been to Lord’s in London.”

He had problems in pronouncing the name of Sachin Tendulkar, but he was aware of his retirement, and the World T20 matches. “I love the commercial part of the sport,” said Jorgensen.

When asked about the recent controversy in the IBL last year in which he was unwittingly involved when Delhi Smashers’s Jwala Gutta objected to his late entry in the tournament, he said, “Well, I would like to stay out of it. I was just here to play the game. IBL is a really good initiative from this huge country and I hope it grows.”

On being compared with the retired Peter Gade, he said, “I can’t quite escape from it, can I? But I would like to do things my own way. I have improved my rankings and had risen to No. 3. I hope to perform better.” Cracking the Top two will be a difficult task, he admitted. “Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long are in a different league. Lee just reaches final after final. Some of us have things to do before we topple them. I need to have more stability in my game.”