As a set of new generation bowlers took over the mantle of taking Delhi forward, the emergence of Navdeep Saini, the right-arm medium fast bowler helped the team achieve great heights during the 2017-18 domestic home season. Riding high on his 34 wickets, Delhi reached the Ranji Trophy final, where they were upstaged by Vidarbha.
Hailing from Karnal, Saini is a deceptive pacer, who relies more on swing and accuracy rather than pace. As a result of his superlative performances throughout the domestic season, Saini was the epicenter of a bidding war between various franchises and his services were finally won by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a whopping INR 3 crores ahead of IPL 2019.
His international career also got a kick-start as he made his ODI and T20I debuts for India in 2019. And was given his Test cap when most of the Indian fast bowlers got injured down under. He made his debut in Sydney and then went to play the famous Perth Test as well. Injuries have plagued him and that also hasn't helped his consistency with the ball. He signed for Kent in July 2022 for a brief stint in county cricket.
IPL through the years
Navdeep's T20 debut for Delhi happened in 2016 and erstwhile Delhi Daredevils pocketed him for his base price of Rs. 10 Lakhs INR ahead of IPL 2017. He got to warm the benches only. But his honeymoon run at the domestic level saw RCB emptying 3 Crores INR ahead of IPL 2019. He was a regular in the RCB squad for IPL 2019 and IPL 2020. But RCB's misfortunes in the IPL meant he slipped into obscurity as well as his economy rate continued to be an issue. He stayed with RCB till 2021 before RR picked him for the 2022 IPL. However, he played only two games without turning a lot of heads.
