Kent Spitfires retain Navdeep Saini for the remainder of Royal London Cup

The English county side Kent has confirmed that Indian pacer Navdeep Saini will remain with the Kent Spitfires squad for the totality of the Royal London Cup in the latest announcement.

Navdeep Saini joined the Kent side for the County Championship and was initially scheduled to feature in five games in England’s domestic 50-over tournament, the Royal London Cup. But after impressive outings in the red-ball tournament, he has been retained for the entirety of the 50-over tournament.

The news comes in the wake of New Zealand pacer Matt Henry’s departure to the Caribbean after being called up to New Zealand’s white-ball squad for their tour of the Caribbean to face West Indies in both ODI & T20I matches after Kent’s opening fixture away against Worcestershire Rapids on Tuesday, August 2.

The 29-year-old Indian pacer joined the county side after being on the periphery of the Indian squad and made an instant impact on English shores, scalping a fifer in his first outing for Kent in their County Championship match against Warwickshire. Saini bagged seven wickets in the match, as his side completed a resounding victory by 177 runs against the defending champions.

The speedster has scalped 11 wickets in two matches so far for the county side and will now set his sights on the limited-overs format with Kent.

The end goal is to get as far as we can, and maybe get that trophy: Kent skipper Joe Denly

English cricketer Joe Denly will be leading the Kent Spitfires in the upcoming tournament and spoke about his side’s chances on Monday ahead of the match against Worcestershire Rapids. The skipper lamented on the loss of some key players due to the second edition of The Hundred but believes they have got the squad to get far in the tournament.

“We’ve got very good squad. We’ve lost a few players to The Hundred but I have to say across all counties, so has everyone. I’m excited about the squad, and of course the end goal is to get as far as we can, and maybe get that trophy,” Joe Denly said in an official statement to Kent Cricket.