I wake up every morning with the hope to play for India: Jalaj Saxena

Jalaj Saxena, the all-rounder from Madhya Pradesh, is one of the most consistent performers in the Indian domestic cricket. With his 33rd birthday approaching, the Indian lad is still hopeful of his call up from Team India. He moved to play for Kerala Ranji side from Madhya Pradesh back in 2016/17,

32-year-old is one of the 19 Indian cricketers to score more than 6,000 runs and take more than 300 wickets in first-class cricket. Moreover, Saxena is the only one out of the 19 players to never play for India. Recently, he recorded the bowling figures of 9.5-0-41-7 and it is the best in Deodhar Trophy history. Also, he became the first player to take a 7-wicket haul in 58 seasons of Indian’s premier domestic tournament.

Jalaj Saxena looks focused on performing well in the domestic circuit

Indian domestic cricketer feels that in the past he used to get frustrated as he never got a call-up from Team India after performing well. But later, he realized that his job is to play cricket and do well in it. Jalaj also added that his motivation is always to play for Indian team, which keeps him focused at the age of 32.

“If I am performing well, frustration is not there. Four-five years ago, I used to get frustrated (not getting the India cap). Those around me told me to enjoy my performance. Selection is not in my hands. My job is to play cricket and that is what I am doing. The motivation is always to play for India. I wake up every morning with this hope,” Saxena told Sportstar.

He also explained about his preparations off the field that helps him to do well on the field and also said that Yoga has helped him a lot in it. “My hard work off the field gets translated into performance on the field. I need to improve my game every year, every season… In the last six-seven years, I have developed mentally. Yoga has been a big help.” the all-rounder added.

Jalaj has shown his disappointment on numerous occasions in the past after being neglected by the Indian selectors despite shattering records one after the other in the domestic circuit. Once, the 32-year-old all-rounder had questioned BCCI on Twitter, on what basis he was ignored despite collecting the best all-rounder of the year award.

[interaction id=”5dad6c5d7bf76bf418bf701c”]