It's time to finally call upon Jalaj Saxena

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament kickstarted the delayed Indian domestic season for the 2020-21 year, featuring some heavyweight international and IPL stars. Yet, it is someone entirely different that has emerged as the man of the moment. The name of Jalaj Saxena will, in all likelihood, evoke a feeling of surprise among those whose acquaintance with Indian cricket does not go beyond the confines of IPL and international matches. Indeed, he is yet to play an IPL game and has never featured for India. However, for those conversant with the domestic scene, Saxena’s performances will be anything but a surprise.

A 3-time winner of the Lala Amarnath award for the best all-rounder in the country, Saxena recorded two back-to-back 3-wicket hauls for his team Kerala in the tournament. In the latest match played against Mumbai, one of his victims was Suryakumar Yadav and all his wickets came at a time when the opposition looked set to take the game away. While the likes of Sanju Samson and Sreesanth are the stars of the side and manage to attract eyeballs, Saxena is the one who quietly goes about doing his job and delivers when it matters the most, be it with the bat or ball.

It must be a difficult feat to remember the records he has established and broken from the time he made his domestic debut in 2005. Globally, only five all-rounders have scored more than 3000 runs and taken more than 150 wickets in First Class cricket since August 2014. Saxena happens to be one of them.

Jalaj Saxena – The unluckiest?

Amongst the 19 cricketers to have scored more than 6000 runs and taken more than 300 wickets in the history of First-Class cricket in India, Saxena is the only one yet to represent the country.

With the Indian team struggling to get the spinners fit and spot opening up to replace them for the upcoming Test series against England at home, the addendum of the latest performances has made the Kerala all-rounder’s case, which already was strong anyway, so colossal that it can no longer be ignored or brushed aside without deep consideration. He is a perfect like-for-like replacement for either Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja– a finger spinner who happens to be solid and reliable with the bat.

His performances have shone across formats and a call-up to the Indian team would not only be a well deserved one but would also go a long way in establishing the sanctity of the Indian domestic setup in times where IPL seems to be the dominant force in deciding selection. For a while now, questions have been raised on the efficacy of domestic performances when it comes to national team selection.

Saurashtra and Vidarbha, the two teams that have won the Ranji Trophy in the previous years, hardly had any players chosen for the next level. On the contrary, take the example of Washington Sundar, a predominantly T20 player who has impressed one and all in the IPL but has played a mere 12 Ranji Trophy matches to date. Yet, he was chosen as a reserve spinner for the Test series against Australia and made his debut in Brisbane.

Saxena’s selection, if it were to happen, would come not only on the back of his current form but also owing to the 5567 runs and 291 wickets in the Ranji Trophy he has amassed. Incidentally, he happens to be only the 3rd cricketer in the history of the competition to score 5000+ runs and take 250+ wickets, the other two names being Madan Lal and the late Vijay Hazare. On a broader level, a spot for Saxena would bode well for the future of domestic cricket in India too – that the domestic performances are as much valued, if not more than the IPL, in matters of selection.

~ Written by Dr. Rohit Prabhudesai