Duleep performance hands Navdeep Saini a career lifeline

Navdeep Saini gave his career a lifeline through his performance in the Duleep Trophy after failing miserably in the Delhi Premier League (DPL), during which he picked only two wickets in five matches and conceded a lot of runs.

He was one of the star players in the just-concluded DPL. However, he returned figures of 1/30 in four overs, 0/31 in 3.1 overs, 0/52 in four overs, 0/14 in one over, and 1/19 in 1.5 overs.

In short, he took two wickets at an average of 73 and conceded runs at 10.41.

Those who observed him witnessed how badly he strayed in line and length. His poor bowling allowed East Delhi Riders to beat Saini’s West Delhi Lions in a game last month. He conceded 27 runs in an over in that match.

However, the ongoing Duleep Trophy has helped him find his bearings somewhat.

He added 205 for the eighth wicket with Musheer Khan, scoring 56 and then picking 3/60 including the wicket of opener Shubman Gill who was beaten by an incoming delivery. His other two scalps were also India Test players – Mayank Agarwal and Dhruv Jurel.

“In DPL, every batsman had to attack since it was T20. There was less margin of error. In Duleep Trophy, the batsmen were wary and cautious, so Saini had the time to focus on working out batsmen. Saini has experience of Test match and first-class cricket. He began his career with Ranji Trophy, so he has the experience of bowling in multi-day format. With so much experience he can read the batsmen well,” said Sanjay Bhardwaj, who groomed the bowler in his early days and found it.

Saini, the right-arm pace bowler, first burst into limelight in the winter of 2013 when he was drafted into the Delhi squad at the behest of current India coach and then Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir much to the annoyance of Delhi cricket office-bearers and the late former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi who contested his entry due to him being from outside Delhi.

Since then, he has played two Test matches, eight ODIs, and 11 T20Is besides 68 first-class matches.

Tags : Navdeep Saini, BCCI, Duleep Trophy, Delhi Premier League, Cricket