Recently, a new development about the exclusion of Jalaj Saxena from the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy 2023 was made when former India pacer and bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad joined the discussion. The former cricketer attacked the Indian cricket management harshly and made fun of the selection procedure while highlighting Saxena’s accomplishments on the domestic circuit.
He referred to Saxena’s exclusion as “baffling” and asserted that the selectors didn’t give the Ranji Trophy, India’s top domestic red-ball tournament, any consideration.
“In Indian cricket, many absurd things are occurring. As perplexing as it gets, the highest wicket scorer in the Ranji Trophy was not selected, not even for the South Zone squad. What a shame. Just makes the Ranji Trophy worthless,” said Prasad.
Saxena, who was also incensed by his rejection, questioned the rationale for his exclusion in a scathing tweet. “India’s highest-scoring wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy (Elite Group) wasn’t selected for the Duleep Trophy. Would you kindly check to see if it has ever occurred in Indian domestic history? I merely needed to know. No one is to blame,” he stated.
Saxena, who played for Kerala, took 50 wickets in seven games to lead all wicket-takers in the 2022–23 Ranji Trophy. Saxena had seven outings with a 19.26 average, including two 10-wicket match hauls and six five-wicket hauls.
Saxena has played in 133 first-class matches and has been a fixture on the domestic circuit. During this time, he has taken 410 wickets. Additionally, he has 6567 runs with an average score of 34.74, including 14 hundreds and 32 fifties.
Beginning on June 28, 2023, the Duleep Trophy will be played, as well as the senior men’s domestic season in India for 2023–24.