With the advent of T20 cricket and especially IPL, county cricket was perhaps the worst loser. There was a time when Indian cricketers were either playing in England (county, of course) or weren’t playing at all. The likes of Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid went westward in the nineties to make it count so that Indian selectors take notice. Nonetheless, reverse migration became the norm in 2008 as IPL came along and BCCI became the powerhouse dictating cricketing agendas all across the world.
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However, in an interesting turn of events, a number of young Indian players are revisiting England in search for better opportunities. In a T20 World Cup year, the likes of Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, and Shubman Gill boarded flights to England which can turn out to be a game changer.
As of now, seven Indian cricketers have signed up for county championships. Take a look.
Shubman Gill (Glamorgan): Known as the brightest youngster from the class of 2020, Gill has leapfrogged Prithvi Shaw to seal the ODI and Test opener’s slot in the national team. However, the elegant right-hander is not in the scheme of things for the T20 World Cup. So, the 22-year-old chose to sign up for English county side which will only make him better in challenging conditions where he managed to score 17 and 4 in India’s defeat at Birmingham. However, it must be mentioned that he is going through a superb ODI form where he has accounted for more than 450 runs in the recently concluded ODI series against West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Mohammed Siraj(Warwickshire): Meanwhile India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj will also join the English county bandwagon as he gears up to play Warwickshire’s last three first-class games in September. Siraj, who was currently playing the ODI series in Zimbabwe, is encountering the same fate as Gill after being ignored for the shortest format of the game. The 28-year-old did impress in West Indies where he bowled a match-winning final over in first ODI. Now, he will make his county debut on September 12.
Cheteshwar Pujara(Sussex): Unlike the above-mentioned names, Pujara has been playing in county cricket for the last one month and it seems that he has only bettered himself in white ball cricket by making the decision. One of the ODI discards, Pujara is currently the second-highest run-getter for Sussex this season. He has already accounted for 1094 runs in 13 innings at an average of 109.40. This included three centuries– 132 off 90 balls against Middlesex, 107 against Warwickshire and 174 against Sussex.
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Krunal Pandya (Warwickshire): While his brother Hardik Pandya scaled new heights in the shorter format, Krunal’s white ball career nosedived and his last outing came for India back in July 2021. It was no surprise that he landed in England to play the Royal London ODI Cup only to find his stint cut short by an injury. In five List A matches, Pandya 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.
Washington Sundar(Lancashire): One of the most attacking spinners, Sundar could have been that one modern-day all-rounder who could have come of age at the T20 World Cup in Australia. Alas, he just had too much competition to deal with. Moreover, his fitness also left him high and dry. He first got injured earlier this year against West Indies and saw the same fate while playing for SRH in IPL 2022. Nevertheless, he landed in England to play county and picked up a fifer on debut only to injure his shoulder which meant he was sidelined for the Zimbabwe tour.
Umesh Yadav (Middlesex): County club Middlesex on July 11 announced that they have signed India pacer Umesh Yadav for the remainder of the 2022 English domestic season which included County Championship and Royal London One-Day Cup. Now, here is the kicker: Yadav replaced the rising Pak pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi. So, did he performed upto the mark? Well, yes. He picked up 16 wickets in 7 List A games. Nonetheless, in First Class matches, he manged to pick up just four wickets.
Navdeep Saini (Kent): Unlike many others of his ilk, Saini can bend his back and extract pace and bounce on docile pitches. And that was on display when India took on Leicestershire in their only practice match ahead of the lone Test against England. He was soon signed by Kent who currently plays in the second division. The Delhi pacer breathed fire on his debut picking up a fifer. Moreover, he went onto pick seven wickets (5/72 and 2/39) in Kent’s 177-run win over Warwickshire last week.
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