“I owe this life and my success to Gautam Gambhir" says cricketer from RCB!!!

Navdeep Saini, who caught everyone's eyes by hitting Shane Watson on the Helmet, in the first game of the IPL, became a huge talking point after the game. He was one of the bright sides from the RCB team managing to impress with his ability to constantly clock over 140kmph. So who is Navdeep Saini???

Navdeep Saini, born on 23rd of November 1992 in Karnal, Haryana, comes from a financially poor background with his father working as a Driver in the Haryana Government. He really couldn't afford to pay for cricket academies and hence played a lot of tennis ball tournaments and used cash rewards from there finally enroll into the Karnal Premier League, a tournament conducted by the Delhi seamer Sumit Narwal, who was the first to spot his talent. Through Narwal, Saini managed to shift bases to the capital, Delhi.

Gambhir was then impressed looking at him during the net sessions and wanted him in the Delhi team at any cost who even got into a fight with the coach. Later Saini said that “I owe this life and my success to Gautam Gambhir", as he was the one who spotted him and fought for him to get him in the squad.

In spite of being able to ball fast and discomforting batsman, Saini constantly in and out of the team due to injuries and inconsistent performances. He played 5 Ranji games each in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons picking up 13 and 16 wickets respectively.
Saini earned an India A call up for the tour of South Africa in 2017 and got 7 wickets in two matches. He also turned out against New Zealand A at home. The 2017/18 Ranji Trophy was the break out season for Saini, where he was the highest wicket-taker getting 34 wickets.

As a reward for all his hard work, he earned his first India call-up for the Afghanistan test, after Mohammad Shami was not able to pass the Yo-Yo fitness test.

You always want people from humble backgrounds to do well and hope Navdeep Saini utilizes this start and goes on to have a big career for India.