Navdeep Saini

Born on November 23, 1992, in Karnal, Haryana, Navdeep Amarjeet Saini is a right-arm fast bowler who has represented India across all formats and plays for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Navdeep Saini is a rare breed of fast bowlers that can continuously bowl at 150 clicks. With deadly toe-crushing yorkers and an elaborate slow ball at his disposal, Saini was being touted as the next big thing for the Indian bowling unit. Still, his international career has been shortlived due to injury concerns.

Cherry-picked by Gautam Gambhir from the practice nets of Delhi, the Karnal-born Navdeep Saini and his rise to the top has been nothing short of a fairy-tale journey. The lanky, wry-looking pace bowler has impressed everybody with his raw pace and deadly accuracy. Coming from humble beginnings, Saini is one of the brightest stars on the cricketing horizon.

Navdeep Saini: Along the Years

Navdeep Saini Records

• Highest-wicket taker for Delhi in Ranji Trophy 2017-18 (34)

• Leading wicket-taker for Delhi in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19 (16)

• Second Indian to play for Kent after Rahul Dravid

Navdeep Saini Awards

• Sixth Indian to win ‘Player Of The Match’ award on T20I debut after Dinesh Karthik, Pragyan Ojha, Subramaniam Badrinath, Axar Patel and Barinder Sran

Navdeep Saini Career

Navdeep Saini is one of the more deadly pacers who could hit the deck and bowl at a faster pace with great accuracy. 

Navdeep Saini Domestic Career

Navdeep Saini made his first-class debut at the age of 21 on December 14, 2013, at Roshanara Club Ground during the 2013-14 Ranji season. DDCA Selection Committee was skeptical of his selection and even disapproved of it because he was from Haryana and not a player from Delhi. However, Gautam Gambhir backed him and forced the selectors to go ahead with his selection in the playing XI.

Gautam Gambhir was told about the prodigal talent of Saini by Delhi cricketer Sumit Narwal who had seen Saini bowl deadly Yorkers with tennis balls. 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.

The speedster bowled one of the most devastating spells in Indian domestic cricket when Delhi humiliated Bengal by an innings and 26 runs to enter the Ranji Trophy final in 2017-18. In 2022, he was signed by Kent to play in the County Championship for a total of eight games.

Navdeep Saini IPL Career

Navdeep Saini after being scouted by Gautam Gambhir in the domestic circuit was lapped up by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) franchise in 2018. He did not get many chances in the franchise and a year later went to Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Royal Challengers Bengaluru) in 2019. A fierce bidding war ensued for Saini and he ultimately got sold for a whopping amount of INR 3 crores.

Saini played 13 matches in the season and picked up 11 wickets. However, his sheer pace and accuracy impressed almost everybody, and soon calls began to grow for Saini to be drafted into the Indian team. 

After having a rather dismal season in 2020, he could only play a couple of games for RCB and was released ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. He was snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals in the mega auction for INR 2.60 crores but has not featured in more than two games in the same season for the franchise. 

Navdeep Saini International Career

Navdeep Saini had a promising start to his international career with his sheer pace. However, injuries played spoilsport as the speedster has not been recalled to the national squad for quite a while.

Navdeep Saini ODI Career

Navdeep Saini’s impressive performances in the T20 format also earned him an ODI cap in the series against West Indies at home. He hustled his first ODI victim, Hetmyer for pace and bounce, and then set up Roston Chase and knocked over his stumps with a peach of a yorker.

He was selected for India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2021 and played in the third and final ODI. 

With an impressive Indian bench strength of pace bowling already present, Saini making his way through the ranks has been nothing short of a miracle story, but injury concerns have hurdled his career.

Navdeep Saini Test Career

After raking up impressive performances in the ODI and T20 teams, Navdeep Saini was drafted into the two-Test squad for the tour of New Zealand. Navdeep did not get a chance to don the white flannels in the series but he had finally broken the glass ceiling in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21.

Saini made his Test debut in Sydney in January 2021 and picked up 4 wickets in the two innings. He also featured in the historic Gabba Test and was part of the victorious squad that scripted history down under. Though he went wicketless in both innings, he was there at the other end when Rishabh Pant hit that boundary to etch the victory in the history books. That was also the last Test that the speedster played for India.

Navdeep Saini T20I Career

Playing under the watchful eyes of the Indian skipper Virat Kohli for RCB, Saini’s impressive performances in IPL 2019 earned him a national team call-up.

Saini was making his debut for India in the T20 format. Playing against a T20 powerhouse in the West Indies, Saini never looked out of place. He first bounced out Nicholas Pooran and then dismissed Shimron Hetmyer off the very next ball. He added to his wickets tally as he got the prized scalp of the well-set Kieron Pollard for 49. His 3-wicket haul earned him the Man of the Match award on his international debut.

A year on from his breakthrough season in the IPL, Saini has turned into a formidable pace option in the international arena for the Indian team. The rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Considering that the Indian team boasts one of the best pace attacks in the world, Saini’s emergence as an option in the famed bowling line-up is a testament to his skills.

Navdeep Saini Family

Navdeep Saini was born on 23 November 1992 in Karnal, Haryana. Coming from a humble background, Saini, son of a former Haryana government driver, has his feet firmly rooted to the ground. 

His father, a driver, was employed with the government of Haryana. His grandfather Karam Singh, an independence activist, was a part of Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army.

Saini married his long-time girlfriend Swathi Asthana in November 2023.

Navdeep Saini House

Navdeep Saini resides in a duplex home with his family in his hometown of Taraori in Karnal, Haryana. 

Navdeep Saini Cars

Following the historic victory of the Indian team in Gabba down under, Navdeep Saini was one of the recipients of Mahindra Thar gifted by Anand Mahindra himself.