I owe my life to Gautam Gambhir, says Navdeep Saini

Following the decimation of Bengal in the Ranji Trophy semi-final, Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini on Tuesday said he owes his “life and success” to former India opener Gautam Gambhir. The young speedster bowled one of the most devastating spells of recent times in Indian domestic cricket as Delhi humiliated Bengal by an innings and 26 runs to enter the Ranji Trophy final. Riding on the back of Saini’s career-best match haul of 7 for 79, Delhi entered the final.

“I owe this life and my success to Gautam Gambhir. I was a nobody and Gautam bhaiya did everything for me,” Saini said. He was full of gratitude for the veteran opener who gave him chance in first-class cricket. The pacer was supposed to go to South Africa as a net bowler, but Ankit Rajpoot of UP is being given that opportunity.

“I was happy that I would go to South Africa but I called up Gautam bhaiyya. He said Delhi needs you now for the semi-final and if you do well, you will be automatically in that Indian dressing room. I didn’t think twice,” said Saini, as reported by News18.

It was during the 2013-14 season that former Delhi cricketer Sumit Narwal saw a wiry-looking boy from Karnal bowling yorkers at will in a tennis ball tournament. Saini was being paid Rs 200 per match and Narwal immediately called up Delhi captain Gambhir to check him out at the nets.

What Gambhir saw at the nets was enough for him to get into a heated argument with then DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan, to get the player from Haryana into the Delhi team.

“Gautam bhaiya, Ashish bhaiya (Nehra), Mithun Manhas rallied around me. They said what’s happening in the periphery shouldn’t be my concern. We will take care of that, you only bowl,” he said, recalling the time when DDCA officials were distributing pamphlets to keep him out of the team.

Terming the outing against Bengal his best performance, Saini said his time with India A has been a turnaround of sorts, and he is more aware of his skills now. However, he is also aware that he will have to compromise on his pace if he builds on muscles.

“I can’t build on muscles as I will lose out on the pace I generate due to my quick hand speed. This is my USP from start. Since I could bowl fuller deliveries with tennis ball, it helps with leather ball as it generates extra pace,” Navdeep Saini explained.