Big feat of Jalaj Saxena. (Photo- PTI)
Jalaj Saxena 500 First-class cricket Wickets: India’s domestic tournaments have started with the second phase of Ranji Trophy. A big feat was seen on the very first day of this phase. A 39-year-old veteran all-rounder took the 500th wicket of his first class career. The career of this player started 20 years ago. But the surprising thing is that despite this strong performance, this player could never become a part of international cricket.
20 years of career and shock 500th wicket
Domestic cricket’s experienced all-rounder Jalaj Saxena has achieved a big milestone. On the first day of the Maharashtra vs Goa match in Ranji Trophy 2025-26, he crossed the mark of 500 wickets in first class cricket. Pune’s MCA International Cricket Stadium became the loser of this historic moment. With this, he also became the fourth highest wicket taker in the history of Ranji Trophy, leaving behind stalwarts like Narendra Hirwani and Vinay Kumar. Now he has 446 wickets in his name in Ranji.
Jalaj Saxena was the most successful bowler of Maharashtra in the first innings of this match. Jalaj Saxena gave away 79 runs in 34 overs and made 6 batsmen his victims. This was also his 35th 5 wicket haul in Ranji Trophy. Due to which Goa’s first innings collapsed for 209 runs.
Strong career of Jalaj Saxena
Jalaj Saxena, born in 1986 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, started his first class career in 2005. Despite consistently brilliant performances in the last two decades, he never got a place in Team India. Jalaj has played 156 first class matches so far and has taken 502 wickets. Of these, he has achieved the feat of taking 5 wickets in an innings 35 times and 10 wickets in a match 10 times. He has done wonders not only with the ball but also with the bat. He has scored 7202 runs in 236 innings, which includes 14 centuries and 35 half-centuries.