Emerging Player Of The Month: Jalaj Saxena

Image: News Indian Express

How closely consistent and great all round performances are related to success in cricket for a player in general, and a team in particular, has been proved by Jalaj Saxena for quite sometime now.

Playing for Madhya Pradesh at the domestic level, Saxena attracted a lot of attention with some emphatic performances with both the bat and the ball recently in the Ranji Season and the Duleep Trophy and this is the  reason why this 28 year old from Indore makes it to this section of The Emerging player of the Month.

Making his debut for Madhya Pradesh in 2005, Saxena has come a long way since then. Claiming himself to be 'naturally aggressive' and always wanting to 'dominate the game' as said in interviews, he has proved to be an asset for his team. Bowling off-spin and batting high up in the order is sure to take a toll on a players fitness, but his passion and dream to be a 'good all rounder' seems to be the catalyst in producing such productive results over the span of time which he has played.

Over 4500 runs and 11 centuries and 191 wickets at an average of around 30 at the first class level under his belt, speaks volumes of his versatility in the game and his value in the team.

The highlight of the action packed Ranji season for Saxena was the match versus Railways, in which he etched his name in the books with figures of 16 wickets for 154 runs in 60.4 overs (8 wickets in each innings), which happens to be the joint second best bowling figures in the history of Ranji cricket. Not only that, in this match along with ensnaring the opposition with his bowling he was 47 not out in the second innings to lead his team to a straight 9 wicket victory over Railways.

Image: Times Of India

While this was the best performance produced, in the earlier matches of the season too, he contributed significantly either with the bat or ball. In a match against Mumbai, which despite being lost by Madhya Pradesh, yet again witnessed him displaying some excellent all round skills. He bagged 5/66 in one innings and 4/89 in the other and to add to it scored 79 runs in the second innings which unfortunately for him and his team ended in a loss by three wickets in what was a tightly fought match. In yet another encounter of the season which was against Gujarat he garnered 9 wickets to dismantle the opposition.

When not with his off-spin, it was his bat that did the talking. In Patiala against, Punjab he staged knocks of 70 and 95 and also picked up 3 crucial wickets. His first century of the season came against Tamil Nadu, of a belligerent 124 runs and also has three half centuries to his name with a total of 530 runs at an average of over 44 in this Ranji season. At the same time he ranks at number 3 on the list of top wicket takers with 46 scalps to his credit which in short says enough about his incredible run in the tournament.

His sublime form now seems to have been carried forward to the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where very recently he smashed 133 runs playing against Saurashtra and 69 in an encounter against Goa.

Image: BCCI

Even when it comes to the chances he has got while playing for India A, he has grabbed the opportunity with both his hands and has rattled the New Zealand and Australian sides with his attacking off-spin. As far as the Indian Premier League is concerned he was picked up by the Mumbai Indians for $9 million after an august season in 2013-2014 and last year he earned a contract with Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Having been selected in the list of probables in ICC Tournaments at a few instances and with his current solid performance in the domestic circuit, Saxena has given himself a chance to be in the selectors frame of things, for his worth as an all round performer has grown over the years.