Indian domestic cricket veteran Jalaj Saxena wrote his name in the history books during the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 clash between Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (UP) at the St Xavier’s College Ground, Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday (November 6).
The star all-rounder was on his best with the ball after Kerala skipper Sachin Baby won the toss and decided to bowl first. Saxena spun a web around the UP batting unit and took the 29th five-wicket haul of his career in the tournament. The 37-year-old finished with figures of 5-56 as the vistors were bowled out for a meagre total of 162.Saxena dismissed Aryan Juyal, Madhav Kaushik, Nitish Rana, Siddarth Yadav, and Piyush Chawla.
Jalaj Saxena Creates History
The wicket of Rana saw Saxena achieve a huge feat and complete 400 wickets in the Ranji Trophy. He is only the 13th bowler to reach the milestone. Last week, he also completed 6,000 runs in the competition during Kerala’s away clash against Karnataka in Alur. By virtue of his incredible record, the domestic cricket legend has become the first player in the 92-year-old history of the Ranji Trophy to complete the double of 400 wickets and 6000 runs. Last year,Jalaj had become only the fourth Indian player to record 9000 runs and 400 wickets across formats in domestic cricket after Vinoo Mankad, Madan Lal, and Parveez Rasool.
Most Runs In Ranji Trophy History Among Players With More Than 400 Wickets
| Player | Runs | Wickets |
| Jalaj Saxena | 6028 | 401 |
| Sunil Joshi | 4116 | 479 |
| Sairaz Bahutule | 4426 | 405 |
Who Is Jalaj Saxena?
Jalajaxena is among the greatest players in Indian domestic cricket history to never play for India. He made his first-class debut in the 2005-06 season of the Ranji Trophy. The star all-rounder played for Madhya Pradesh, which is his home state from 2005 to 2016 before joining Kerala.
Saxena was part of the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013 and 2014 and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2015 but did not get a chance to make his debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He did feature in three Champions League T20 matches for MI in 2014.
He was picked up by Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 2019 auction but was kept on the bench before being released ahead of the 2020 season. Later, he was picked up by Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2021, where he finally made his IPL debut. Jalaj played one match for PBKS (vs Delhi Capitals) but did not get to bat. He bowled three overs and conceded 27 runs while not picking a single wicket. That remains Jalaj’s only IPL appearence till date.
