Jalaj Sahai Saxena (born 15 December 1986) is an Indian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er. An

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm

off spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

, he is one of the most consistent performers in the Indian domestic circuit for over a decade. He made his domestic cricket debut for

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

in 2005 and later switched bases to

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

in 2016.

Early life

Jalaj was born on 15 December 1986 in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

. Saxena's father was a professional swimmer who worked in Bhilai Steel Plant. Saxena took up swimming initially but was allergic. He then started taking cricket coaching emulating his elder brother, Jatin. Jalaj was initially a fast-bowling allrounder but later became an off-spinner. Jatin has later represented

and Chhattisgarh in domestic cricket.

Domestic career

Early years

Saxena made his first class debut for

on 17 December 2005 in the 2005-06 Ranji Trophy. He made his List A debut for Madhya Pradesh on 10 February 2006 in the 2005–06 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...

debut for Madhya Pradesh on 21 October 2009 in the 2009-10 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He was Madhya Pradesh's joint second highest wicket taker bagging 18 wickets in the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy. He scored 443 runs at an average of 55.37 in the 2008–09 Ranji Trophy including three centuries. In the 2008-09 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he topped the Madhya Pradesh bowlers and also scored his maiden List A century.

Consistent seasons

Saxena scored 769 runs at an average of 69.90 in the 2012–13 Ranji Trophy including two centuries. He was included in the

India A The India A cricket team is a national cricket team representing India. It is the second-tier of Indian international cricket, below the full India national cricket team. The team is currently captained by Priyank Panchal in first-class cricket a ...

team that played against the touring Australian team in February 2013, and scored 30

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

and took five wickets including the wickets of Test batsmen

Phillip Hughes Phillip Joel Hughes (30 November 1988 – 27 November 2014) was an Australian Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia and Worcestershire. He was a left-handed opening batsman who play ...

Usman Khawaja Usman Tariq Khawaja ( ur, ; born 18 December 1986) is an Australian cricketer who represents Australia and Queensland. Khawaja made his first-class cricket debut for New South Wales in 2008 and played his first international match for Austral ...

and

Ed Cowan Edward James McKenzie Cowan (born 16 June 1982) is an Australian former cricketer, who played domestically mainly for New South Wales and Tasmania as a left handed opening batsman. In March 2018, he announced his retirement from first-class cr ...

. Against New Zealand A in August 2013, he took figures of 6/103 and was the highest wicket-taker in that series. In the 2013–14 Ranji Trophy, Saxena scored 545 runs at an average of 41.92 with a top-score of 194, and took 35 wickets at an average of 19 including three five-wicket hauls and two

ten-wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

s to finish among the top wicket-takers of the season. In the

2014–15 Ranji Trophy The 2014–15 Ranji Trophy was the 81st season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India. It was contested by 27 teams divided into three groups of nine teams each. The top three teams from Groups A and B advance ...

, Saxena hit two centuries and amassed 583 runs at an average of 44.84. In a match against Tamil Nadu, he scored 144 and then bowled with the match figures 4/74 and 3/109 in the first and second innings respectively to win the man of the match. He was awarded the Lala Amarnath Award for best all-rounder by BCCI in January 2016. Saxena continued his impressive all-round performance in

2015–16 Ranji Trophy The 2015–16 Ranji Trophy was the 82nd season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India. It was contested by 27 teams divided into three groups of nine teams each. The top three teams from Groups A and B advanced ...

, scoring 588 runs at an average of 36.75 with a top-score of 124 and taking 49 wickets at an average of 22.55 including four five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. He recorded match figures of 16 for 154 against

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. He took eight wickets for 96 runs in the first innings and eight wickets for 58 runs in the second innings. These are the second-best figures in the history of the Ranji Trophy. In the first match of the 2015–16 Vijay Hazare Trophy, opening the innings, Saxena scored a run-a-ball 133 against Saurashtra in a 300-plus run chase. He finished with 230 runs and eight wickets.

Move to Kerala

Saxena signed a one-year contract with

as a professional player for the 2016–17 season. He was the leading wicket-taker in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 44 dismissals and was fundamental in Kerala's first ever quarter-final entry in the season. He was also the second highest run getter for Kerala. In July 2018, he was named in the squad for India Green for the

2018–19 Duleep Trophy The 2018–19 Duleep Trophy was the 57th season of the Duleep Trophy, a first-class cricket tournament in India, which took place in August and September 2018. India Red were the defending champions. All of the matches took place at the NPR Co ...

. He was the leading run-scorer for Kerala in the

2018–19 Ranji Trophy The 2018–19 Ranji Trophy was the 85th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament that took place in India between November 2018 and February 2019. Vidarbha were the defending champions. The final took place between ...

, with 551 runs in nine matches. In the match against

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

in the season, he also became the only Indian to hit a century and take an eight-wicket innings-haul in the same match twice, having achieved the feat previously against

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

in the last season. In January 2019, he was picked in the India A team for their first four-day game against England Lions, thus earning a call-up to the India A side for the first time since 2013. In August 2019, he was named in the India Blue team's squad for the

2019–20 Duleep Trophy The 2019–20 Duleep Trophy was the 58th season of the Duleep Trophy, a first-class cricket tournament in India. It took place in August and September 2019, starting the 2019–20 domestic cricket season in India. India Blue were the defending c ...

. In the second match of the tournament, he completed the double of scoring 6,000 runs and taking 300 wickets in first-class cricket and became the first uncapped Indian to achieve the feat. In September 2019, he was added to India A's squad for the first four-day match against South Africa A as a replacement for the injured Krishnappa Gowtham. He scored an unbeaten 61 in the first match and was declared the man of the match. In October 2019, he was named in India C's squad for the

2019–20 Deodhar Trophy The 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy was the 47th edition of the Deodhar Trophy, a List A cricket competition in India. It was contested between three teams selected by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It took place in October and Novem ...

and finished as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament.

Indian Premier League

Saxena was part of Mumbai Indians in the 2013 and 2014 seasons of IPL. He then joined

Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...

for the

2015 Indian Premier League The 2015 season of the Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 8 or, for sponsorship reasons, Pepsi IPL 2015, was the eighth season of the IPL, a Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. ...

. He was bought by the

Delhi Capitals Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadium, ...

in the player auction for the 2019 Indian Premier League. He was released by the Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2020 IPL auction. In February 2021, Saxena was bought by the

Punjab Kings Punjab Kings (PBKS) are a franchise cricket team based in Mohali, Punjab, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Established in 2008 as the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), the franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Preity ...

in the IPL auction ahead of the

2021 Indian Premier League The 2021 Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 14, or for sponsorship reasons, Vivo IPL 2021, was the fourteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cric ...

. He made his IPL debut for Punjab against

in the 2021 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saxena, Jalaj Indian cricketers Living people 1986 births Cricketers from Indore Madhya Pradesh cricketers Central Zone cricketers India Blue cricketers India Red cricketers India Green cricketers Legends of Rupganj cricketers Punjab Kings cricketers