Navdeep Saini ruled out of Duleep Trophy, NZ A matches
Indian seamer Navdeep Saini will miss the upcoming Duleep Trophy final and the three-match unofficial one-dayers against New Zealand A. The right-arm seamer suffered a groin injury during Day one of the concluded Duleep Trophy semi-finals between North Zone and South Zone. Meanwhile, all-rounder Rishi Dhawan will replace him in India A squad. Saini had impressive returns in England's domestic season.
Saini to skip Duleep Trophy finale, NZ A one-day series
Saini, who plays for North Zone in Duleep Trophy, bagged five wickets in the ongoing tournament. He will miss the final against Ajinkya Rahane-led West Zone set to commence on September 21 in Coimbatore. The injury also puts him out of contention for the three one-dayers versus New Zealand A, starting September 22 in Chennai.
Saini had impressive returns in England's domestic season
Playing for Kent, Saini bagged five wickets while averaging 58.00 in the lately finished Royal London One-Day Cup. He played a part in Kent's titular campaign in the tourney. As for the red-ball duels, the 29-year-old Haryana-born pocketed 11 scalps in two appearances. The tally includes a match-winning five-fer (5/72) on County debut against Warwickshire.
One of eight Indians in England's domestic season
Saini was one of the eight Indian players to participate in England's domestic cricket this season. Cheteshwar Pujara (Sussex), Washington Sundar (Lancashire), Krunal Pandya (Warwickshire), Shubman Gill (Glamorgan), Mohammed Siraj (Warwickshire), and Jayant Yadav (Warwickshire) are the other Indians to feature in the 2022 English domestic season. Notably, Siraj later joined Saini with a five-wicket haul on his County debut (vs Somerset).
How has Saini's career panned out?
In an international career spanning over three years, Saini has featured in 21 internationals for India as of now. He has snapped up 13 wickets from 11 T20Is at an average of 18.07, with best figures of 3/17. Saini also has six ODI and four Test wickets to his name. The right-arm seamer owns 164 First-class, 86 List A, and 56 T20 wickets.
Dhawan makes the India A squad for NZ A one-dayers
India A squad: Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Rajat Patidar, Sanju Samson (captain), KS Bharat (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Rahul Chahar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Sen, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Rishi Dhawan, Raj Bawa.
