From Cheteshwar Pujara to Navdeep Saini: Check how India players are faring in 2022 England domestic competitions
From Cheteshwar Pujara to Navdeep Saini: Check how India players are faring in 2022 England domestic competitions
The domestic competition in England this year has surprisingly witnessed participation by a good number of Indian players. Cheteshwar Pujara (Sussex), Washington Sundar (Lancashire), Krunal Pandya (Warwickshire for Royal London Cup), Umesh Yadav (Middlesex), Navdeep Saini (Kent), and Mohammed Siraj (Warwickshire) are or were part of the English summer in 2022.
Let’s take a look at how Indians have fared/faring in England domestic competitions this year:
Cheteshwar Pujara: This year, 34-year-old Pujara has earned headlines for not just being involved in the England domestic competitions but also for being at the center of all the action. He had begun his county season with a double-ton (201*) for Sussex against Derbyshire and followed it with a hundred (109) against Worcestershire and another double-ton (203) against Durham.
By May end, Pujara, who is playing in his debut season for Sussex, had slammed four consecutive hundreds for the County side.
In July, the Rajkot batter slammed a double century against Middlesex on July 20 at Lord's. It was his third double century and 16th in first-class cricket overall. With the feat, Pujara moved just behind all-time greats like CB Fry, Jack Hobbs, and Graeme Hick in the list of most first-class cricket double tons.
Players ahead of Pujara with most FC double hundreds:
- 37 - Don Bradman
- 36 - Walter Hammond
- 22 - Percy Hendren
- 17 - Herbert Sutcliffe & Mark Ramprakash
Also, Pujara is second only to Glamorgan's Sam Northeast in terms of leading run-getters in the County Division Two.
???? ???? @cheteshwar1 does it again!#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/JehWCswOCq
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) July 20, 2022
It is worth mentioning that County cricket revived a down-and-out Pujara's cricketing career after he was dropped post a poor run in the South Africa Test series. Also, Pujara’s exploits are not only limited to red-ball cricket as has scored three tons and as many fifties in eight innings with a 100-plus average and strike rate in the ongoing Royal London One-Day Cup. He has also become only the second batter to cross 500 runs this season in the English competition.
Washington Sundar: Indian all-rounder Washington Sundar started off his county cricket stint for Lancashire with a bang, picking up a five-wicket haul on his debut against Northamptonshire at Northampton during the ongoing County Championship Division one. Overall, Sundar played two matches for Lancashire in the County Championship 2022, scoring 52 runs and taking eight wickets. He then took three wickets in the first two matches of the ongoing Royal London One-Day Cup, but a shoulder niggle may prevent him from playing the rest of the matches in the tournament.
Krunal Pandya: Out-of-favour India all-rounder Krunal Pandya's stint with English county side Warwickshire was cut short after he sustained a groin injury, forcing him out of the ongoing Royal London One-Day Cup. The 31-year-old had picked up the injury while batting during Warwickshire's first innings against Nottinghamshire on August 17 and he didn’t return to the field in the second essay. He was not part of the team for the next two games against Middlesex and Durham as well.
Pandya, who had been roped in by the county team in July to play in the 50-over competition, scored 134 runs at an average of 33.50, including an 82-ball 74 in the tied match against Surrey at The Oval. He also picked nine wickets at an average of 25 with his left-arm spin bowling, including consecutive three-wicket hauls against Sussex and Leicestershire.
Navdeep Saini: Team India pacer Navdeep Saini is spending his summer playing red-ball cricket in England, representing Kent in division one of the County Championships. Saini is in red-hot form as he sizzled with a fifer against Warwickshire on his debut for Kent. Overall, he had picked up seven wickets (5/72 and 2/39) in Kent’s 177-run win over Warwickshire last week. Also, Saini bagged four wickets against Lancashire, however, Kent lost the match by 184 runs.
Umesh Yadav: India speedster Umesh Yadav was roped in by Middlesex in July as a replacement for Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi. Yadav bowled an unplayable delivery to take the wicket of Worcestershire’s Taylor Cornall to start off his County stint. Umesh went through the defence of Cornall (11) to return with figures of 14-1-45-1 in the first innings. The India pacer bagged one wicket in the second innings as well but his side lost the match by 7 wickets.
Umesh bhai doing what he does best on his @CountyChamp debut for Middlesex! ???? pic.twitter.com/vFK19i58NX — KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) July 12, 2022
Yadav also picked a wicket against Durham, however the game ended in a draw.
Mohammed Siraj: Team India pacer Mohammed Siraj has been signed up by the Warwickshire for the last three matches of the County Championship season in Division 1 in September. Siraj is scheduled to join the side soon as he was part of India's recent 3-0 ODI series triumph over Zimbabwe.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.