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Saurabh Kumar: Kuldeep Yadav's challenger to replace Ravindra Jadeja in 2nd India vs England Test
Saurabh Kumar could be in direct competition with Kuldeep Yadav for a place in India's Playing XI in the 2nd Test against England.
Saurabh Kumar, Sarfaraz Khan and Washington Sundar were on Monday added to India's squad for the 2nd Test against England starting February 2. While Washington has already represented India in four Tests, it's the other two – Sarfaraz and Saurabh – whose cricket trajectories took a sharp turn when their names were announced as replacements for the injured duo of Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul. There has been plenty of hue and cry around Sarfaraz, whose long-awaited dream of earning a maiden Test call-up turned into reality yesterday, but for 30-year-old Saurabh, life has come full circle given how in 2021, he was a net bowler travelling with the Indian team to England.
Saurabh isn't exactly a youngster, but even at 30, the left-arm spinner brings to the table a wealth of experience having slogged at the domestic circuit for years. Saurabh is a veteran of 68 First-Class matches, having taken 290 wickets with a best of 8/64. Besides, Saurabh is a more than handy batter, who has notched up 12 fifties and two centuries. A regular for India A, Saurabh recently impressed against South Africa A in Potchefstroom, where he grabbed four wickets. Building on this success, he continued to shine in the game against England Lions, where he took six wickets and contributed with the bat, scoring 77 runs. His all-round performance played a crucial role in India A's triumph, securing victory by an innings and 16 runs.
Saurabh's skillset has made heads turn, to an extent that he has been backed by none other than Sunil Joshi, the former left-arm spinner and ex-BCCI chairman of selectors. "Saurabh (Kumar) is a fantastic cricketer, a good reader of the game and situation. He knows how to adjust his line and length. He has got lot of experience in bowling in these conditions and against some really good players in domestic cricket like (Cheteshwar) Pujara or Mayank (Agarwal), who score heavy runs. He has improved his batting also and can contribute some handy runs down the order. A real asset to any team," he told PTI.
The tour of 2021 wasn't the only time Saurabh shared the dressing room with bigshots like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The following year, as India hosted Sri Lanka for a two-Test series at home in March, Saurabh earned his maiden Test call-up but had to warm the bench with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shouldering India's spin-bowling responsibilities. His wait didn't end against Bangladesh later that year either, but Saurabh kept grinding for Uttar Pradesh. In the 2022 Irani Cup final, he played a vital role in taking Rest of India to the title, taking 3/60 in the second innings and chipped in with 8/64 in Central Zone's crushing win over East Zone in the Duleep trophy.
No stopping Saurabh
In October of last year, Saurabh's graph continued to rise as he finished with a match-haul of 10/108 (4/65 and 6/43) to take Rest of India to back-to-back Irani Cup titles. As for the second Test in Vishakhapatnam, even though Jadeja has been ruled out, Saurabh won't start as an automatic pick with Kuldeep Yadav likely to get the preference. Still, it hasn't dampened his spirits.
"It has always been a dream to be a part of the Indian team. I mean which cricketer wouldn't want that? Lot of things need to come together for it, but I have had a bit of experience. Not every day you will get a chance to bowl to a Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, especially if you are a domestic player. They hardly play in Ranji Trophy or other domestic matches because of national commitments," Saurabh was quoted as saying by PTI.
"So, it was a chance for me to have a closer look at them and study how they approach their game and their other routines. It was a great experience to bowl to and interact with some top-level players. There was so much to learn from them. Bishan sir (late Bishan Singh Bedi) used to tell me to keep working hard and be mentally ready to give my best whenever the opportunity comes. I never really keep myself away from nets or bowling."
