Jalaj Sahai Saxena, popularly known as Jalaj Saxena is an Indian Cricketer born on 15th December 1986 in the city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He is an all-rounder known for troubling the opposition batters with his right-arm off-spin and also scoring some vital runs with the bat.
Jalaj Saxena has enormous domestic cricket experience under his belt. He made his first-class debut for Madhya Pradesh on December 17, 2005. Saxena played his maiden first-class game versus Kerala at Indore. The all-rounder could not pick up a wicket on his first-class debut. However, he scored 27 runs and conceded only 50 runs in his spell of 26 overs.
Saxena played his first List-A match for Madhya Pradesh versus Rajasthan at Jaipur on February 10, 2006. He did not get an opportunity to bowl in that match, but he remained unbeaten on 7 runs for the team, which helped them win the game by four wickets.
Three years later, Jalaj played his first domestic T20 game for Madhya Pradesh against Vidarbha at Indore. He was the team’s captain in his very first T20 domestic game, and Saxena led his side from the front with figures of 1/27 and an aggregate of 24 runs in the match. Madhya Pradesh won that match by six wickets.
Saxena has switched to Kerala now. He has played a total of 123 first-class matches, scalping 347 wickets and scoring 6,334 runs. In List-A cricket, Saxena has 1,957 runs and 116 wickets to his name in 99 games.
Talking about his T20 numbers, Jalaj has taken 59 wickets and aggregated 661 runs in 59 matches. His best figures in T20s are 5/16, while his highest score with the bat is 55*.
Despite being a part of the Mumbai Indians, the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Delhi Capitals in IPL, Saxena is yet to make his debut in the competition. He has warmed the benches at all three franchises in the last few years. In IPL 2021, he is a member of the Punjab Kings Team. Punjab signed him for INR 30 lakh at IPL Auction 2021.
Hailing from Indore, Jalaj Saxena came into the spotlight after winning the Lala Amarnath Award in 2014-15. He has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket. However, he is yet to play in the IPL and the international arena. Saxena has represented India A. At 34, the all-rounder is still looking forward to performing well in the IPL and open the door for his arrival in the Indian cricket team.
