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Who Is Saurabh Kumar? India’s Potential Debutant For IND Vs ENG 2nd Test

image-lryzlb5xSaurabh Kumar in action for India A in 2022 (KSCA)

Saurabh Kumar was rewarded with a spot in the Indian line-up for their second Test of the five-match series against England. The Uttar Pradesh all-rounder was included in team’s 17-player squad alongside fellow potential debutant Sarfaraz Khan after senior pros Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul were ruled out of the match owing to injuries.

Saurabh was also named in India’s squad for their two-match home series against Sri Lanka back in March 2022, however, he did not find a place in the starting XI courtesy of Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin’s Test resolute at the time.

As the 30-year-old gears up for a potential Test debut against England, here at OneCricket, we take a look at the cricketer’s journey across domestic cricket.

Who is Saurabh Kumar?

Saurabh Kumar made his first-class debut for Services during Ranji Trophy 2014 before he made a jump to Uttar Pradesh the following season, where he joined the likes of Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar and Rinku Singh. Notably, he also made his List A and T20 debuts in the same 2015-16 Indian domestic season for Uttar Pradesh.

While the cricketer constantly delivered impactful performances with both bat and ball, he came to his own during the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy event by claiming 23 wickets for his side from just four matches.

Kumar was rewarded with an IPL contract for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants for the IPL 2017 season, however, he failed to get a game throughout the tournament. He was also excluded from Punjab Kings’ starting XI from all their IPL 2021 games in India and UAE.

Despite sustaining multiple IPL snubs and exclusions from playing XIs, the left-arm spinner continued to bewilder his opponents within India’s domestic infrastructure, particularly in Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare games.

So far in his competitive career, Saurabh Kumar has collected a staggering haul of 290 wickets from just 68 first-class matches, and another 73 wickets from 68 white-ball games (35 List A and 33 T20s).

With Team India finding itself 0-1 behind to England in their home series, coupled with key injuries to Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul; 30-year-old Saurabh Kumar might well earn his maiden Test cap when Rohit Sharma and co. takes field at Visakhapatnam for the all-important second match on February 2.