Saurabh Kumar

Saurabh Kumar, a thriving all-rounder from Uttar Pradesh, is a slow left-arm bowler and also a well capable lower-middle-order batsman. Kumar was an Indian Air Force officer, who traded his job to play for UP. 

Before migrating back to Uttar Pradesh, he played for the Services team. In his debut season for UP, he scored 304 runs alongside bagging 17 wickets in his maiden Ranji Trophy season, including a 10-wicket haul on his debut for Uttar Pradesh in 2015. He backed with his performance in the 2017-18 season as well. He ended the edition as Uttar Pradesh’s highest wicket-taker with 23 dismissals in just four matches. 

The southpaw took fourteen wickets in a Ranji game against Haryana in 2019 to grab all the attention on him. In the 2018-19 season, he again topped the highest wicket-taker charts for the UP state team, with 51 scalps in 10 outings. A few months later, Kumar was named in the India Blue team's squad for the 2019–20 Duleep Trophy. 

The left-arm spinner has also proved his worth in the shortest format. Kumar debuted in the T20 format for Uttar Pradesh and since then, he has mastered his bowling with the new ball and knows how to control the game in the middle-overs. 

Saurabh Kumar was bought by Rising Pune Supergiants at his base price for the 2017 season of the Indian Premier League. And after missing quite a few seasons, he has again managed to attract buyers during the 2021 IPL auctions when he was acquired by Punjab Kings. The spinner will now be playing under the mentorship of the spin-ace Anil Kumble and could add a few more tricks in his bag to take the next heave in his career.  

(As of March 2021)