MP off-spinner Jalaj Saxena creates history in Ranji Trophy

MP off-spinner Jalaj Saxena creates history in Ranji Trophy: History was marked in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, as Madhya Pradesh took on Railway. Jalaj Saxena once again hogged the limelight, as he bowled an amazing spell and picked up 8 wickets as Madhya Pradesh thumped Railways by 9 wickets in their Group B encounter in Gwalior. The rookie had also notched up8/96 in the first innings, to reduce Railways to 256.

In the second innings, he spun to his career-best figures of 8/58 to completely shot the Railway batsmen for just 131, thus setting the hosts a mere target of 112.

The 28-year-old youngster also smashed the winning runs for his team as he remained unbeaten on 47, to push his side home.

He is the third Indian to scalp 16 wickets in the game. Apart from Saxena, former Indian skipper Anil Kumble and Pradeep Sundaram achieved this historic feat. Anil Kumble took 16/99 against Kerala at Thalaseery, in the year 1995. While Pradeep Sundaram picked 16/154 against Vidarbha in 1985 at Jodhpur.

The match winning performance and figures of 16/154 helped him bag the man of the match award.

Saxena, 28, opens the batting for Madhya Pradesh apart from bowling tricky off-spin. This season, he dominates MP’s bowling charts with 26 wickets and tops the batting too, scoring 344 runs at an average of 49.14.