Navdeep Saini credits Gautam Gambhir's mentoring following national call-up

Navdeep Saini has rightly been given the priority for his consistency in the domestic seasons after Mohammed Shami failed to clear the Yo-Yo test. And the bowler has credited his success to Gautam Gambhir, who discovered him through Delhi Ranji Trophy net session.

After watching him bowl for 15 minutes, the former Delhi Daredevils captain had realized that Saini was a rare talent, who should be groomed properly. Saini had managed to impress the key Delhi players to make his way into the Delhi Ranji team despite initial resistance from the board officials, who considered him as an outsider from Haryana. According to the report from TOI, Gambhir had lost his cool during the net session when despite his repeated insistence, a Delhi selector (a distinguished former India opener) didn't even make a passing glance at Saini's bowling.

"I remember every tiny little thing. I know what Gautam bhaiya had to go through to convince selectors that I was good enough to play for Delhi. Not to forget Ashish Nehra, Mithun Manhas, Sumit Narwal, who all stood by me. In fact, after first few matches, he (Gambhir) said that if I keep working hard at every practice session, I will play for India. He saw in me before I realized myself. Today when I look back about those days, I smile," said Saini.

Saini’s standout performance came against Bengal in the Ranji Trophy semi-final, where he clocked in the mid of 140s and the opposition batsmen were not even able to get their bats down on time.