Jalaj Saxena celebrates his 31st Ranji Trophy five-wicket haul against Bihar on Friday. (KCA)
Domestic veteran Jalaj Saxena set a new Ranji Trophy record as he bagged a brisk five-wicket haul against Bihar in the last league-stage match for Kerala at the Sports Hub International Cricket stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
After Kerala put on a hefty 351 on the board, Saxena ripped through a brittle Bihar middle-order to claim figures of 5/19 in only seven overs. The five-for marked his 31st five-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy, the highest among active bowlers. Only four other bowlers have claimed more five-wicket hauls in the history of the tournament.
However, Saxena’s five-for was his first against Bihar, making them the 19th opposition against whom the Madhya Pradesh-born off-spinner has tallied a five-wicket haul. The 38-year-old Saxena thereby surpassed former India pacer Pankaj Singh’s (18) record for five-wicket hauls against most teams in the Ranji Trophy.
Saxena’s wicket-tally also rose to 416 in the tournament, marking him the joint-ninth highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy.
Earlier this season, Saxena completed the rare Ranji Trophy double of 6000 runs and 400 wickets, making him the only uncapped Indian all-rounder to record the feat. Saxena, who began his First Class career in 2005 with Madhya Pradesh, totalled 159 wickets and 4041 runs for the team before switching to Kerala in the 2016-17 season. The right-arm off-spinner has since become Kerala’s second-highest wicket-taker in First Class cricket, only behind KN Ananthapadmanabhan (310).
Ranji Trophy five-wicket hauls against most team
19 – Jalaj Saxena
18 – Pankaj Singh
16 – Sunil Joshi
16 – R Vinay Kumar
16 – Shahbaz Nadeem
16 – Aditya Sarwate
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
