KOLKATA: There are cricketers who play to achieve something and there’re some who just love the game without being bothered about results.
Jalaj Saxena perhaps falls in the latter category. The allrounder, who shifted base from Madhya Pradesh to
Kerala in 2016-17, has quickly become the pillar of his new side.
Only last week he scored 133 and picked up nine wickets against Andhra. But he is not done yet as he followed it up with a superb 143 against Bengal here at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
“It was very challenging as the ball was seaming the whole day and both Ashok Dinda and Mohammad Shami were bowling fast and in the right areas. It was completely different conditions to what we are used to in Kerala,” he said after the day’s play.
Saxena even hit Australia-bound Shami for two sixes, but he said there was no particular plan to attack. “I only focused on hitting whatever is in my zone,” he explained.
In spite of scoring more than 5000 first-class runs and taking close to 300 wickets, Saxena seems to be out of India’s scheme of things as he was not picked for India A series also. But the allrounder is not frustrated with that.
“I don’t think about what is not in my control. It’s the selectors’ job and I cannot comment on that,” he said. “But I had this believe that one day I will play for the country. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but I have this belief,” he stated.
Although a lot of newcomers had made the national side by performing well in the IPL, Saxena felt his path is different.
“I have never played a single IPL game. So I know that if I have to make it to the India side, I have to perform here only,” he remarked.
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