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Who is Jalaj Saxena? Snubbed domestic veteran comes into focus after historic performance for Kerala

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37-year-old Jalaj Saxena on Sunday created history in India’s domestic cricket. The veteran picked 9/68 which is the second-best bowling figure for Kerala. Amarjith Singh with 9/45 vs Andhra in 1971 is still the best for the state from down south.

For ardent cricket fans, Jalaj Saxena is a name that brings a mixture of sadness and anger. India’s selectors have time and again snubbed him for national duties despite his tall feats with the bat and ball.

Jalaj Saxena is a player who can open the innings as well as play in the middle order. With the ball, he has over 430 wickets in domestic cricket. So who is this Jalaj Saxena exactly? His career figures might leave you numbed.

Jalaj Saxena: India’s Greatest ‘What If’ Story

In a curious case of co-incidence, Jalaj Saxena made his domestic cricket debut for Madhya Pradesh against Kerala. His first game came in late 2005 just two days after he had turned 19 years old. Madhya Pradesh had a good mix of young players and experienced stars in their team. The likes of Abbas Ali and Devendra Bundela are domestic legends while Narendra Hirwani was a former India star. Naman Ojha was another player who was slowly rising through the ranks with the MP side. Jalaj Saxena scored 27 with the bat after being slotted in at number 8.

The next few years saw the rise of the talented youngster who showed promise with the bat and ball. It wasn’t long before Jalaj Saxena became a huge part of the Madhya Pradesh team with brimming talent. At a time when India was struggling to find a decent all-round talent, the selectors missed a trick. Irfan Pathan had started to stumble with his actions and had lost his pace and his place in the team. Yuvraj Singh after his ODI World Cup exploits in 2011 lost his way after his illness.

The cricketer from Indore kept going and piling on the runs and picking up wickets. Years of toil got him acclaim but sadly no selection to the blues was forthcoming. The closest he came to playing for the senior team was when he was part of the India A squad. After his impressive 2012 season where he scored 769 runs, a call-up to the India A team came about, during the tour match between Australia and the representative side, Saxena picked 5 wickets. One of his scalps included Usman Khawaja the Australian opener who is a very good player of spin. New Zealand also fell to the guile of Jalaj Saxena as he picked 6 for 103 against the touring side.

In 2016, Jalaj Saxena moved to Kerala and has played a huge role in their rise. What makes his situation even said is that he has played just one game in the IPL. During the 2021 season, Saxena played for PBKS vs Delhi Capitals. The veteran went wicketless and that was the end of his IPL stint as well.

Interestingly his older brother Jatin is also a cricketer and is currently playing in the Sri Lankan domestic circuit. In the twilight of his career, Jalaj Saxena will go down as the greatest ‘What if’ in Indian Cricket. With over 6600 runs in the longer format and 14 centuries, Jalaj Saxena will be a sad case study for future generations.

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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024

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Smriti Mandhana and Alyssa Healy (Source - X)

RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.

It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain

Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.

It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.

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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window

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Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.

It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.

Watch the viral video here –

Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.

RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief

As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.

On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.

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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy

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Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.

Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.

The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).

‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar

“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.

Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.

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