Ajit Agarkar EXPOSED! Virat Kohli’s teammate claims domestic cricket means nothing to selectors, only IPL matters

The 32-year-old India National Cricket Team right-arm fast bowler Navdeep Saini has seemingly exposed the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection committee, saying that only Indian Premier League (IPL) performances matter for India selection.

Navdeep Saini, who shared dressing room with Virat Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Indian team, stated that to play for the India National Cricket Team, one needs to deliver good performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and without that, it is not possible to don the Blue jersey.

Main jab aaya tha mere paas khone ko kuch nahi tha – Navdeep Saini

The Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini has represented the Indian team across all three formats of the game. He made his T20I debut on August 3, 2019, against the West Indies in Lauderhill and got his ODI cap in the same year and against the same opposition in Cuttack on December 22.

Your daily dose of cricket!

He had to wait for a couple more years to get his Test cap as he made his debut in the longest format of the game for India in Sydney against Australia on January 7, 2021.

Saini last played white-ball cricket for India in July 2021 on the Sri Lanka tour and his last Test outing came during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21.

In a recent interaction with PTI, Navdeep Saini, after returning with figures of 2/20 in nine overs in Delhi’s Ranji Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh, said:

“Main jab aaya tha mere paas khone ko kuch nahi tha aur itne saal baad aaj bhi khone ko kuch nahi hai. Main agar India comeback ka sapna na dekhoon mujhe haq nahi Delhi team mein ek jagah rok ke rakhne ki. (I had nothing to lose when I came here in 2013, neither do I have anything to lose now. If I don’t dream of an India comeback, what’s the point of blocking a slot in the Delhi team).”

Over the last few years, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has gotten pretty strict and made participation in domestic cricket mandatory for players who wish to represent Team India at the international level.

This initiative was first pushed by Jay Shah when he was serving as the BCCI Secretary, and it has received great backing from the head coach Gautam Gambhir and the chief selector Ajit Agarkar.

However, Navdeep Saini doesn’t necessarily believe in the talks that domestic cricket is the benchmark for national selection as he still feels it’s the Indian Premier League (IPL) performances that matter the most.

“Whether one likes it or not, to play for India, you have to do well in IPL. It is a reality. A year before, I had a shoulder injury and my pace dropped — it cost me an IPL contract,” Saini said.

When asked whether he should focus only on white-ball cricket, the pacer replied by saying that he can do that, but he loves playing red-ball cricket. Navdeep Saini is also optimistic about getting back into India’s scheme of things if he picks a couple of five-wicket hauls.

Despite falling out of reckoning for a place in the Indian team, Saini still yearns to don the national jersey again.

“Yes, I can but I love this challenge of bowling in days’ games. Last match, I didn’t get wickets (in Hyderabad) as the wicket was slow. On this track, post Tea, it became lively,” he said.

“Why not? If I have a couple of fifers, I will again be part of the discussions,” said Navdeep Saini.

Also Read: Karun Nair accuses Ajit Agarkar of destroying his career: ‘I deserved more than a series’