Jalaj Saxena is an Indian all-round cricketer who represents Kerala in domestic cricket. He previously played for Chhattisgarh for over a decade before switching to Kerala in 2016. Jalaj has won the prestigious Lala Ram Ranji Trophy Best All-rounder award three times and is considered by many to be the best all-rounder in Indian domestic cricket.
Wiki/Biography
Jalaj Saxena was born on Monday, December 15, 1986 (34 years old in 2020) in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. His full name is Jalaj Sahai Saxena. His star sign is Sagittarius. He completed his high school education from BSP English Medium School, Sector 5, Bhilai. Jalaj started playing cricket when he was about 8 years old. After the fourth grade, he used to go to school to take exams. He completed his formal education while focusing on cricket. He completed his secondary education from BSP Higher Secondary School, Sector 4, Bhilai and later graduated from Kalyan College, Bhilai in 2003.
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 10″
Eye color: Black
Hair color: Black
Family and caste
His father Ghanshyam Saxena runs a yoga institute called YogSharnam in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. His mother’s name is Manju Saxena.
Jalaj Saxena’s parents
Jalaj Saxena’s father Ghanshyam Saxena practicing meditation
His elder brother Jatin Saxena is also a professional cricketer and has represented Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket.
Jalaj Saxena’s brother Jatin Saxena
Profession
Domestic cricket
On 17 December 2005, at the age of 20, Jatin Saxena played his first domestic cricket match for Madhya Pradesh in the 2005–06 Ranji Trophy against Kerala. He caught the attention of the Indian cricket selectors after his impressive performance in the 2012–13 Ranji Trophy, where he scored 769 runs at an average of 69.90, including two hundreds. As a result, he was selected for the India A team for the series against Australia A and New Zealand A. His performances in both series were above average.
Jalaj Saxena celebrates defeating Australia A batsmen in India A’s first match
In the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy, Saxena scored 545 runs and took 35 wickets, including three five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls. He was one of the top wicket-takers of the season. In the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy, Saxena scored 768 runs at an average of 45.17. He scored three centuries that season. In the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy, Saxena averaged 44.16 and scored 530 runs. He also performed well with the bowling, taking 46 wickets, including four five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. During the tournament, he bowled a miraculous 16-wicket, 154-run haul against Railways, the second-best bowling performance in the history of the Ranji Trophy. After representing Madhya Pradesh for more than 10 years, Jalaj decided to continue his cricket career and play for Kerala. Explaining the reasons that compelled him to make such a drastic decision, he said:
I scored a lot of goals and points for Madhya Pradesh. But I felt if I moved to a smaller team (Kerala) and performed well there and took them to an elite level, then I would get more attention and the much-needed recognition. Kerala is a smaller team and if I perform well and they achieve big things, I would get recognition, so that was the main reason, I took some risks to get recognition.
Saxena took 44 wickets in the tournament, becoming the leading wicket-taker in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy. In the following Ranji Trophy season, he became the leading run-scorer for Kerala. He also represented India Blue and India C in the 2019–20 Duleep Trophy and 2019–20 Deodal Trophy respectively. Since August 1, 2014, only five all-round cricketers in the world have scored more than 3,000 runs and taken more than 150 wickets, with Jalaj Saxena being the third.
Top cricket best all-rounder statistics
He is the highest run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy from 2015-16 to 2019-2020. The all-rounder even surpassed the bowlers in the list.
Ranji Trophy top scorers since 2015-16
Indian Premier League (IPL)
Jairaj Saxena has played for three IPL teams. In the player auction before the 2013 IPL tournament, Mumbai Indians bought Saxena for Rs 90 lakh.
Jalaj Saxena and Sachin Tendulkar hold the 2013 IPL trophy
He was replaced by West Indies batsman Lendon Simmons midway through the 2014 Indian Premier League. In the 2015 Indian Premier League player auction, he was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a base price of Rs 10 lakh. He was released by the team the following year.
Jalaj Saxena’s RCB jersey
He was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 20 lakh at the 2019 Indian Premier League auction.
Jalaj Saxena selected for Delhi Capitals
Even after being offered three IPL franchises, Jalaj still did not get a chance to play in the money-rich league.
Awards and Achievements
- Jalaj Saxena won the Lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder in the Ranji Trophy three times in a row from the BCCI, in the years of 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2017-18.
Former Indian cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi presents BCCI’s Lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder in domestic cricket to Jalaj Saxena
- In August 2019, Jalaj Saxena created history by becoming the first Indian player to score 6000 runs and take 300 wickets without appearing in an appearance.
Favorite things
- Movie: Now You See Me (2013)
- Song: Soorma Anthem (from the 2018 film Soorma)
- Cricket Stadium: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Facts/Trivia
- Jalaj Saxena was fondly called Babul by the people of his hometown.
- Photography is Jalaj Saxena’s favorite hobby.
- Jalaj considers his first match for the India A cricket team to be his favourite cricket moment so far.
- Jalaj had no professional cricket coach to train him until he was 17. When he realized that he could make a career in cricket, he enrolled at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) cricket academy in Indore. Recalling that time in an interview, Jalaj said:
Initially, when I started playing cricket, it was just me, my brother and my father. My father used to bowl to me and he used to take me to different pitches. There was no real coaching until I was 17-18 years old. Bhilai is a very small town and there was no formal coaching. So we used to play club cricket. My brother and I used to talk about cricket a lot and my father helped me a lot. There was no professional coaching.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education