‘He absolutely deserves this’ - Vijay Dahiya lavishes praise on Saurabh Kumar after India call-up

Saurabh Kumar’s rise in Indian cricket is one for the storybooks. Even after grinding hard in the domestic circuit for years, the 29-year-old was never in India’s scheme of things because of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel's all-round skills. However, the Uttar Pradesh-born cricketer stuck to basics and finally earned a spot to represent the national team.

Saurabh earned his maiden call-up in early 2022 during the Sri Lanka series but with all the senior cricketers available for selection, the all-rounder couldn’t make it to the playing XI. Now, with Ravindra Jadeja being ruled out due to a knee injury from the upcoming Bangladesh series, Saurabh has once again earned a call up following his marvellous performances in domestic cricket.

In 54 first-class games so far in his career, Saurabh picked up 237 wickets at an impressive average of 23.93. He is also someone who can contribute with the bat as he has 1776 runs to his name in the longest format. To top that, in the recently concluded unofficial Test series against Bangladesh A, the spin-bowling all-rounder notched 15 wickets and ended up as the leading wicket-taker of the series. Thus, his performance speaks volumes and will be a player to watch out for if indeed he earns his spot in India’s playing XI.

He has taken wickets that have mattered the most: Dahiya

Nevertheless, former India international Vijay Dahiya is delighted with the call-up and mentioned how hard he has worked in the last couple of years to make it happen. The 49-year-old reminded everyone about his performance in domestic cricket and even pointed out why the cricketer deserves to play for India.

“It’s a very good selection. How do you get selected? On the basis of performance, consistency, and all against a good side. If you look at his numbers, they have been phenomenal in the last couple of years and he’s getting rewarded for that. He has performed against the top sides. We often say this player has scored hundreds of runs or that player has taken these many wickets. But when it comes to selection and starting the comparison, you see against whom and where. When you see those things, Saurabh’s performance will always be top-class,” Dahiya told News18.

“He has taken wickets that have mattered the most. His performance, in that sense, is phenomenal. As a spinner, playing for a state which has quite a bit of fast bowlers, among them being so consistent for the last couple of years; he absolutely deserves this,” the former wicket-keeper batter added.