Jalaj Saxena

Jalaj Saxena

Personal information
Full name	Jalaj Sahai Saxena
Born	(1986-12-15) 15 December 1986 Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling style	Right arm off break
Role	All-rounder
Relations	Jatin Saxena (brother)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2005–present	Madhya Pradesh
2013–2014	Mumbai Indians
2015	Royal Challengers Bangalore
Career statistics
Competition FC List A T20 Matches 81 58 40 Runs scored 4510 1175 443 Batting average 38.22 23.97 14.76 100s/50s 11/22 2/5 0/1 Top score 194 133 55* Balls bowled 12125 2499 587 Wickets 191 67 31 Bowling average 30.70 28.11 22.45 5 wickets in innings 11 0 1 10 wickets in match 3 n/a n/a Best bowling 8/58 4/40 5/16 Catches/stumpings 28/- 6/- 10/-
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 4 January 2016

Jalaj Sahai Saxena (born 15 December 1986) is an Indian cricketer who plays as an all-rounder for Madhya Pradesh. A right-hand batsman and off break bowler, he has also represented the India A and Central Zone cricket team.

Saxena has batted at various positions but usually opens the batting. In 2015 he registered the second-best bowling figures in the history of Ranji Trophy. He has emerged as one of the best all-rounders in domestic cricket and was awarded the Lala Amarnath Award for best all-rounder by BCCI in January 2016. His brother Jatin Saxena is also a first-class cricketer who plays for Madhya Pradesh.

Domestic career

Saxena scored 769 runs at an average of 69.90 in the 2012–13 Ranji Trophy including two centuries. He was included in the India A team that played against the touring Australian team in February 2013, and scored 30 not out and took five wickets including the wickets of Test batsmen Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja and Ed Cowan. Against New Zealand A in August 2013, he had figures of 6/103.

In the 2013–14 Ranji Trophy, Saxena scored 545 runs at an average of 41.92 with a top-score of 194, and took 35 wickets at an average of 19 including three five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls to finish among the top wicket-takers of the season.

In the 2014–15 season, Saxena hit three centuries and amassed 768 runs at an average of 45.17. In a match against Tamil Nadu, he scored 144 and then took 4/74 and 3/109 to win the man of the match. He was part of the Central Zone team that won the 2014–15 Duleep Trophy in which he scored 110 in the semifinal against North Zone and 71 in the final against South Zone, and also picked wickets.

Saxena continued his impressive all-round performance in 2015–16 Ranji Trophy, scoring 530 runs at an average of 44.16 with a top-score of 124 and taking 46 wickets at an average of 20 including four five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul.

In November 2015, Saxena recorded match figures of 16 for 154 in against Railways. He took eight wickets for 96 runs in the first innings and eight wickets for 58 runs in the second innings. These are the second-best figures in the history of the Ranji Trophy.

In the first match of the 2015–16 Vijay Hazare Trophy, opening the innings, Saxena scored a run-a-ball 133 against Saurashtra in a 300-plus runchase.

IPL career

Saxena was signed up by the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians in 2013. He remained with the Mumbai Indians until the 2014 season. At the 2015 IPL auction, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹10 lakh.

External links

• Jalaj Saxena - Cricinfo
• Jalaj Saxena IPL Profile from RoyalChallengers