Going into the final of this season's Ranji Trophy, between Vidarbha and Delhi, all eyes were on two bowlers from the two teams—Rajneesh Gurbani and Navdeep Saini. Both teams had reached the finals in contrasting styles. Delhi had crushed Bengal, bowling them out for a paltry 86 in the second innings in Pune, with Saini taking 4/35.
Gurbani, also a right-arm medium pacer, too got noticed for taking the wind out of tournament favourites Karnataka's sails with 5/94 and 7/68 in the semifinal in Kolkata.
In the final, though, it was Gurbani who came out with flying colours. His six-wicket haul in the first innings, which included a hat-trick, played a key role in ensuring the Central zone team from Maharashtra clinching its maiden Ranji Trophy title in its eight-decade long history. His hat-trick broke Delhi's spirit—all three deliveries swung in sharply from outside off stump, sending the Delhi trio of Vikas Mishra, Navdeep Saini and Dhruv Shorey back to the pavilion.
Interestingly, Delhi's bowling coach Manoj Prabhakar was witness to Gurbani's 'assault' on his boys. A genuine all-rounder who was known for his ability to swing the ball, Prabhakar's expressions said it all when Gurbani bowled those inswingers to maximum effect.
Gurbani hails from Nagpur and is a qualified civil engineer. A quiet, wiry fellow, he is only two seasons old in first-class cricket. An understudy to India seamer Umesh Yadav, Gurbani did well in Yadav's absence this season under the tutelage of chief coach Chandrakant Pandit and bowling coach Subroto Banerjee.
Speaking to THE WEEK, Banerjee, who is also a former India bowler, said, “Rajneesh has worked very hard on his bowling. He has developed the inswinger this year. Earlier, he was primarily an outswing bowler. His length has improved a lot and he is hitting correct areas.” Recalling the day when he first saw Gurbani in open trials for the senior team, he describes him as “this lanky boy who essentially swung the ball one way. It takes time for anyone to do things perfectly and in Rajneesh's case it took me 3-4 years to get him ready.”
Gurbani also became the highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy knockouts in a season, with 27 wickets in 2017-18, breaking Karsan Ghavri's record of 24 wickets in 1976-77 for Mumbai. Gurbani's exploits in the semifinal and final apart, he also took a 5/38 in the quarterfinal match against Kerala.
He is the second highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy season after Jalaj Saxena, with 39 wickets in 6 matches.
His performances have brought him to the notice of the many talent scouts and selectors on the lookout for recruits for IPL—the auction is set to take place at the end of this month in Bengaluru. However, he is still a work in progress, said Banerjee. “He needs to work more on his fitness and some more work needs to be done on his bowling action.”
Vidarbha bowler Rajneesh Gurbani in action during the Ranji Trophy final match against Delhi, in Indore | PTI
Gurbani is considered a keen learner and a good listener. The coaches feel that his ascent in first-class cricket has a lot to do with his work ethic and ability to respond to coaches' demands.
Another former India pacer Vivek Razdan feels Gurbani's efforts deserve due recognition but to move forward in his career he would have to improve his pace which is still sub-130 kmph. “Pace is something you have to have if you have to go to the next level,” said Razdan. “No doubt he has been a consistent performer this season but adding a few yards to his bowling is crucial. At the top level, time is of essence. To give the batsman that extra second with such pace, it will be very difficult to survive.”
He gives the example of current India pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar. “When Bhuvneshwar started he, too, was 127 kmph. But he went back and added the extra yards and also worked on his swing.”
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Navdeep Saini was being tipped as the player who would make Delhi's dream of lifting the Ranji Trophy after a decade, come true. It did not go the seven-time champions' way, but Saini did enough to silence all the Doubting Thomases in the capital. Saini's initiation to Delhi and its first-class cricket was rocky. Hailing from Karnal, he was spotted by Gautam Gambhir, who persuaded him to move to the capital. Four years ago, when Saini was on the cusp of making his Ranji Trophy debut, his selection caused a nasty furore in Delhi cricket administration. Some members of Delhi's selection committee even expressed their displeasure in front of him before the start of the match. Consequently, he made his debut on December 14, 2013, at the Roshanara Club ground in a disturbed state of mind. It wasn't his abilities that were in question, but his “outsider” tag, since he was not from the NCR region and was not a player from any of the clubs registered with the DDCA. Fights over his inclusion kept happening even after his debut, but Gambhir persisted with him and is having the last laugh.
Razdan was a selector a few seasons ago. He found Saini “different” even then. Son of an Armyman, Saini is a product of tennis ball cricket. The pace he generates is eye-catching—he bowls 140-145 kmph consistently. “The issues over his selection apart, the line and length he bowled, and the way the ball would hit the bat very hard... he stood out from the others.” Saini impressed in his debut, taking two wickets.
Four years since that debut, Saini has gone on to become Delhi's go-to bowler in absence of Ishant Sharma. “I am pleasantly surprised with the way he has evolved,” said Razdan, who watched him bowl both in the semifinal and the final.
Saini, in 30 first-class matches thus far, has taken 96 wickets with an economy rate of 2.78. In the Ranji Trophy this season, he has taken 34 wickets in 8 matches.
Sunil Valson, member of the Cricket Affairs Committee of DDCA, said, “I think Navdeep is a much better bowler now—he is more effective. He is someone whom the opposition will always have in mind.”
According to Razdan, “it is not about one game where a player performs or a spell that the bowler bowls”.
“He has been consistent in his bowling which is heartening to see. I was most impressed in the semifinal with the way he bowled with the old ball on the third day. When a ball is 60-70 overs old, the way it comes out of your hand, skids on the surface... when you see those things, you can see how different he is from what I saw a few years back.”
For both Saini and Gurbani, this is a crucial time for their career. According to Razdan, Sani is ready to go to the next level—the India A tours. The Delhi seamer was recently called by the Indian team management to bowl in the nets to Team India on the tour to South Africa. However, Gambhir persuaded Saini to decline that “offer” and instead opt to play the full Ranji season. It worked both for Delhi and Saini. “I feel now he is probably getting to a stage where you are probably looking at him for the country. He is very much ready for India A tours, and if need be when there is a call for replacement in the senior India team, he should be in place for that. But it all depends on how he maintains his fitness and how he continues to perform,” said Razdan.
