India vs Sri Lanka: Domestic toil pays off for Saurabh Kumar

Saurabh Kumar, who was the only new face in the Indian team for the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka announced by chief selector Chetan Sharma on Saturday, has been on the radar of the national selectors for a while now due to his consistent performances on the domestic circuit. In 46 first-class games for Services and UP, Saurabh Kumar has taken 196 wickets @ 24.15, 16 five-wicket hauls, and six 10-wicket match hauls.

In the 2018-19 season, the 28-year-old took 51 wickets in 10 games in the Ranji Trophy, and 19 in the Duleep Trophy. In Dec 2018, he took 14 for 65 against Haryana — the second-best match figures for a bowler for Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy.

In the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season, he took 44 wickets @21.09. The 28-year-old has also scored two first-class hundreds and eight fifties for an average of 29.11.

Talking about giving a maiden India call-up to Saurabh Kumar, chairman o f s e l e c t o r s Chetan Sharma said, “Saurabh has been doing well in domestic cricket. We picked him from there and he went to South Africa with India ‘A.’ We are very happy with his performance.

He was with the (Indian) team as a net bowler (against England in the Test series last January) and in South Africa also, he was also one of the standbys. Let us hope that he does well.”