Saurabh Kumar is an Indian Cricketer born on 1st May 1993 in the city of Baghpat, Tamil Nadu. He is an all-rounder who bowls slow left arm spin and bats left-handed. He has achieved more success as a bowler in domestic cricket.
Saurabh Kumar played domestic cricket for Uttar Pradesh at U-19 and U-22 levels. After that, he made his first-class debut for the Services senior team in Ranji Trophy 2014/15. Playing against Himachal Pradesh on debut, Saurabh could pick up only one wicket in 31 overs. He scored 45 runs with the bat but his contributions could not help Services win.
Later, Saurabh Kumar switched to his home side Uttar Pradesh. The all-rounder has played 44 first-class matches in his brief career, taking 192 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 2.70. Kumar’s best figures in first-class cricket are 7/32.
Talking about his numbers in the batting department, Saurabh Kumar has scored 1,549 runs in 61 innings. He has recorded two centuries and eight fifties for his team.
Unlike first-class cricket, Saurabh Kumar made his List-A debut for Uttar Pradesh. He received his first List-A cap versus Himachal Pradesh on December 10, 2015. He bowled a decent spell of 2/36 in his 10 overs, which helped Uttar Pradesh beat Himachal Pradesh by seven wickets.
In his List-A career thus far, Kumar has managed to scalp 37 wickets in 24 innings. His aggregate in this format has been 173 runs in 16 innings.
Saurabh Kumar made his T20 debut on January 8, 2016 against Services at Cuttack. He opened the bowling for his team and bowled a fine spell of 2/23 against his former team. His spell set up Uttar Pradesh’s 57-run victory.
Kumar has taken 21 wickets in 28 T20 games so far. His best figures in the game’s shortest format have been 5/28.
Saurabh Kumar has not played his first IPL match yet. However, he has been a part of the tournament before. Rising Pune Supergiant signed him for INR 10 lakh at IPL Auction 2017. Kumar warmed the benches at Pune for the entire 2017 season. The Punjab Kings Team signed him for INR 20 lakh at IPL Auction 2021.
Hailing from Baghpat, Saurabh Kumar has made a name for himself with his economic bowling spells. Kumar’s economy rate in List-A cricket is 4.38, while the same stat in T20 cricket is 7.04. These numbers show that he can dry the runs in the middle overs. As a result, the opposition batters come under pressure and lose their wickets. It will be exciting to see how the Punjab Kings use him in IPL 2021.
