Saurabh Kumar Biography | Career Stats | Records | Family

Saurabh Kumar Biography: The Uttar Pradesh-born left-handed all-rounder comes under the spotlight when he scored 304 runs and picked 17 wickets in his debut Ranji Season including a 10-wicket haul.

He followed it up with a stellar 2017-18 season emerging out as the leading wicket-taker for UP with 23 scalps and his stand-out performance with the bat came against Baroda where he struck a record partnership with Kuldeep Yadav for the eighth wicket.

Saurabh Kumar holds the record of 2nd best bowling figures by a bowler for Uttar Pradesh in Ranji Trophy.

Saurabh Kumar Biography – Overview

Saurabh Kumar Biography – Early Life

• Saurabh Kumar’s father was a Kabaddi player in his village Baruat. He couldn’t take sports full time due to a lack of sports facilities.
• Saurabh Kumar used to travel to Delhi from his village for his training at National Stadium.
• His practice started at 3 pm, so he had to take a passenger train from Baraut to Delhi, then catch a bus from there to the stadium.
• Saurabh Kumar’s family was very supportive of him during his training days.
• His father used to accompany him to the stadium from his village.
• His mother worked really hard for him and sacrificed a lot for him Saurabh Kumar started his journey in domestic cricket playing for the Services team after he joined the Indian Air Force in 2014.
• On July 22, 2021 Saurabh Kumar ties knot with his long-time (8 years) girlfriend Neha Saby in a private ceremony in Ghaziabad.

Saurabh Kumar Career

• Saurabh Kumar made his first-class debut for Services against Uttar Pradesh in Ranji Trophy in the 2014/15 season.
  • • He picked up 1 wicket from his 31-over spell for his side.
    • Saurabh Kumar had an impressive season with the Services team in the 2014/15 Ranji Trophy. He picked up 17 wickets for the team and amassed 304 runs from seven matches.
• Saurabh Kumar made his Twenty20 debut on 8 January 2016 in the 2015–16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
• In the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, he was offered a spot in the Uttar Pradesh state team due to his remarkable season debut season with the Services team.
  • • He bagged a ten-wicket haul on his debut for the Uttar Pradesh team.
• In July 2018, he was named in the squad for India Blue for the 2018–19 Duleep Trophy.
• In December 2018, in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy match against Haryana, Kumar took fourteen wickets for 65 runs in the match.
  • • These were the second-best match figures for a bowler for Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy.
    • Saurabh Kumar was the leading wicket-taker for Uttar Pradesh in the group stage of the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy, with 50 dismissals in nine matches. He finished the tournament with 51 wickets in ten matches.
• In August 2019, Saurabh Kumar was named in the India Blue team’s squad for the 2019–20 Duleep Trophy.

 

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Saurabh Kumar International Career

• In January 2021, he was named as one of five net bowlers in India’s Test squad for their series against England.
• In February 2022, he was again named in India’s Test squad for their series against Sri Lanka.

Saurabh Kumar IPL Career

• In February 2017, Saurabh Kumar was bought by the Rising Pune Supergiants team for the 2017 Indian Premier League for 10 lakhs. Where MS Dhoni led the side while CSK was suspended from the IPL for two years for betting and Spot-fixing activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season.
• In February 2021, Kumar was bought by the Punjab Kings in the IPL auction ahead of the 2021 Indian Premier League.

Saurabh Kumar Records

• In 44 first-class matches, he has picked up 192 wickets at an average of 23.4 with an economy of 2.70 runs per over.
• He has 16 five-wicket and 6 ten-wicket hauls to his name in first-class cricket.
• Saurabh Kumar was the leading wicket-taker for Uttar Pradesh in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 23 dismissals in four matches.

Saurabh Kumar Quits Airforce Job

Employed with the Indian Air Force on sports quota, Saurabh was at the crossroads. He had a secure central government job with all the perks but his heart pushed him to play professional cricket and earn that coveted India jersey.

“There comes a moment in life when you have to take a decision. Jo bhi ho lena padhta hai,” the 28-year-old orthodox left-arm spinner and newest entrant to the Indian Test squad told PTI.

“It was a tough decision to quit playing Ranji Trophy for the Services. I loved being an Indian Air Force man and part of Indian defence but there was a part of me that felt that I have it in me to work hard and play for India,” the cricketer, who hails from UP’s Baghpat District, said.

“I was posted in Delhi. I played for Services in the Ranji Trophy for one year (2014-15 season) when Rajat Palliwal was our captain.

“Since I was a sports quota entry, I didn’t have to do any duty apart from play for Services. If I had quit cricket, then I would have had to do full-time duty,” he recollected the old days.

Hailing from a middle-class family, his father worked as a JE (Junior Engineer) at All India Radio. His parents were firmly supportive of his decision to trade profession with passion.

“It is amazing that when I told my parents that I am leaving the Air-force job, they didn’t for once asked me to reconsider. Both were very supportive of my choice.

“It was my decision to leave IAF but when I saw that my parents were supportive, I got a lot of confidence to independently pursue my dream,” Saurabh said.

Saurabh Kumar Batting stats

Saurabh Kumar Bowling Stats