The Miraculous Story of Navdeep Saini

A rare kind of fast bowler, Navdeep Saini bowls deadly toe-crushing Yorkers along with elaborate slow balls. Saini is glorified as the next promising pacer for the Indian cricket team . Gautam Gambhir cherry-picked this young talent from the practice nets of Delhi, and from that time his journey from nothing to the top has been marvellous. This young, wry-looking pace bowler has impressed everybody with his deadly accuracy and raw pace. Navdeep Saini is one of the brightest stars in the Indian cricketing horizon, coming from humble beginnings.

The Journey of Navdeep Saini

Domestic Career

At the age of 21, Navdeep Saini made his debut in first-class cricket during the 2013-14 Ranji season. DDCA Selection Committee was doubtful about the selection of Saini as he was from Haryana and not a Delhi player. During that time, Gautam Gambhir forced the selector to go ahead with him in the playing XI. Gambhir knew about this prodigal talent from fellow Delhi cricketer Sumit Narwal who had seen Saini bowl deadly yorkers with the tennis ball. When Gambhir saw Saini in the nets, he was very impressed by him and got into a heated argument with the then DDCA vice president Chetan Chauhan to let this Haryana cricketer play for the Delhi team.

In January 2016, cricketer Saini made his Twenty20 debut in the  2015–16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, he was the leading wicket-taker by taking 34 wickets in eight matches for the Delhi team. Saini was the leading wicket-taker for Delhi in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he picked 16 wickets from eight matches. Saini was named for India C’s squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy.

Navdeep Saini’s IPL Career

Gautam Gambhir scouted Navdeep Saini in the domestic circuit, and due to this in the 2017 IPL auction, Saini was bought for INR 10 Lakh by Delhi Daredevils(now Delhi Capitals) for the 2017 Indian Premier League . He did not play any match for Delhi, and a year later, in the IPL 2018 auction, Saini was bought for a whopping amount of INR 3 Crore by Challengers Bangalore after a fierce bidding war.

Navdeep Saini continued playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2019 IPL. Saini picked 11 wickets from 13 matches in the season. Due to his sheer accuracy and pace, Saini got selected for the Indian team. He is playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2020 UAE.

Navdeep Saini’s fastest ball is 147.92 kph in one of the IPL 2020 matches, which is the fastest by an Indian bowler in the list of the fastest balls bowled in IPL 2020 so far.

ODI Career

In the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Saini was a standby bowler for the Indian squad. Navdeep Saini got his ODI cap in the West Indies series because of his impressive performance in the T20 format. On December 22, 2019, Saini made his ODI debut for India against West Indies. In his first ODI only, Navdeep Saini’s bowling attack was a mixture of perfect pace and good bounce, which helped him get the wickets of Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase.

The bench strength of pace bowling of India is impressive, and Saini is making a way in the Indian team with his performance.

BATTING CAREER SUMMARY

BOWLING CAREER SUMMARY

T20I Career

Saini's impressive performance in the 2019 IPL, by playing under the Indian skipper Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bangalore, got him selected for the national T20I team.

Navdeep Saini made his T20I debut for India in August 2019 against West Indies. From the first bowl only, Saini was giving West Indies’ batsmen a tough competition. He first picked the wicket of Nicholas Pooran and then on the very next ball he dismissed Shimron Hetmyer. In the last over of the inning, Saini bowled a maiden over and dismissed Kieron Pollard . The 3-wicket haul of cricketer Navdeep Saini on his international debut match earned him the Man of the Match award.

Saini has turned into an excellent pace option of the Indian team in the international arena. Considering the fact that the Indian team boasts of having the best pace attackers in the world, the emergence of Navdeep Saini in the famed bowling line-up is evident of his fast bowling skills.

Test Career

Navdeep Saini was added to India’s Test squad for a match against Afghanistan by replacing Mohammed Shami in June 2018, but he did not play the match. After his nerve-wracking performances in ODIs and T20s, Saini was selected for the New Zealand tour. He did not get to play the white ball in the series, but he will definitely get the opportunity to break the glass-ceiling in upcoming years.

PERSONAL DETAILS

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