While aiming to make a comeback would be his priority, pacer Navdeep Saini is putting in all the hard yards during the Delhi Premier League 2025 to get back in the groove of getting selected both for the IPL and the national team. He last represented India way back in 2021 and has since then disappeared from the radar of the selectors.

Things got worse for him when injuries and his inconsistent performances also couldn't help him earn an IPL contract during this season. But all these setbacks didn't stop him as he is currently working hard for East Delhi Riders during the ongoing season of the DPL and is treading cautiously to make a comeback to the national side.

While struggling to bounce back during the first few matches of the DPL 2025, Navdeep was at his absolute best in the past few matches as he registered brilliant figures of 1/21 and 2/22 against teams like West Delhi Lions and Purani Dilli 6.

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During an exclusive interaction with the Daily Jagran, Navdeep talked about his slump in form, how he is planning to make a comeback in the national side, who he is closest to in the DPL team, and much more.

Excerpts:

Q. The ongoing season of the DPL for you personally wasn't a great start, like during the tournament opener, you failed to take a single wicket, and then against North Delhi Tigers, you conceded and could take just one wicket. So what do you think went wrong?

Navdeep: I don't think that at that point anything went wrong for me. Sometimes, when you are playing a match, things don't go in your favour, and every bowler faces this situation. Sometimes, things don't go in their favour, and it's also not that a bowler will be taking wickets daily, and then the batters won't be able to score runs. A bowler will take wickets as well as concede runs. If a batter is batting, then does he score runs daily? These things are a part of a bowler's life, and when a bowler is not performing well, then I don't think he should get worried because if you have followed your process, then there are days that you might have a bad day.

Q. And then in the match against Purani Dilli 6, you had taken two wickets and had conceded 22 runs, so what do you think changes you must have made in your bowling style?

Navdeep: Just like I said, there are days when a bowler do leak runs and then there days when he doesn't and its just the process you follow and one should back their strength and despite that the performance does go up and down and at that time I must have read the game time earlier as to how whats going going, on the wicket is reacting and since during the initial matches it was easier to take wickets and after that I got to know how the wicket was behaving and I analysed the conditions quickly and thats the process I followed.

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Q. You have been playing under Anuj Rawat's captaincy this season, so how will you describe his captaincy?

Navdeep: He is a very gopd captain and I am playing under him for the first time and as per my expectations he has performed well as he stays calm on the field and the way he controls the match situation and how well he handles every player in the team and no matter how the conditions is and whether the match is under our control or not then also he stays relaxed and I think this helps him to make better decisions.

Q. Your fellow teammate, Arpit Rana, has performed quite consistently in the ongoing season. What's your take on his performance?

Navdeep: Arpit is a very good batter and I have observed him quite closely as when we used to train together even before the DPL and he used to work hard during those practice session, and I could judge that a player like him does have a lot of potential, and I knew from that day that he would perform well. And I hope that he continues to perform like this since he is working hard, and he should continue doing so.

Q. Who is the one player that you are closest to on this DPL side?

Navdeep: Usually, I am close to all the players in the team, and it's quite tough to pick any one player. I do share a strong bond with all the players.

Q. Since the last few years during the IPL, you have been going unsold. And then during the India A series against England, you weren't part of the team. What was going through your mind, and how have you planned to make a comeback to the national side?

Navdeep: The only way I can make a comeback to the national side is if I perform consistently wherever I am playing. You should perform consistently, and now, I think that even if I am not selected, I am still thinking about how I can perform better in the upcoming matches. Even during the last season of DPL, I got to know that I should prepare myself for playing in the Duleep Trophy. At that time, I also thought that I might get selected, so I should prepare myself, and besides DPL, I also prepared for the red-ball domestic tournaments, so that when I was picked for the Duleep trophy, I was able to perform well. So that's why I keep myself prepared.

Q. Whenever India is playing any bilateral series across formats, how do you prepare yourself in case your name is there in the squad?

Navdeep: Since I am currently playing in the DPL and right after this tournament Duleep Trophy would begin and I know that its an upcoming tournament and I would be playing in it and since I have performed well in it, I might get picked and whenever any upcoming tournament is nearing, whether its Duleep Trophy or a India A match or any bilateral series of India, I am well aware of the fact that I might get picked anytime since I know that I had performed well. A person himself has a gut feeling about this, and that's why I keep myself prepared, so whenever I get a chance, I will take advantage of that.

Q. Mohammed Shami had an underwhelming season during IPL 2025, and then speculations were rife that he would announce his retirement soon. What's your take on this?

Navdeep: I am not in favour of his retirement at all since he has done a lot for this country and helped the team win lots of matches. Its very difficult for a player to win matches for the team continuously and the way he has performed, whether if its in white-ball cricket or red-ball and since he has performed so much for India and if after that he fails to perform in some 5-7 matches in IPL or any other tournament and since he was suffering from an ankle injury and thats after just one tournament, you can't say that he should retire. I don't think like that at all because he has contributed to Indian cricket a lot, and players know themselves. Rumours spread like wildfire, and at the end of the day, a player only knows what's going on in his mind, and I still think he does have a lot of cricket left in him to serve this country, as he has been performing well, and he is also my idol.

Q. You have been performing decently as a batter for the past few years. What's your take on your batting performance?

Navdeep: Whenever I get the chance to bat, I have to score runs and help the team win matches. These days the situation has become such that any bowler should know how to bat because the runs scored by bowlers are quite important for the team since they play a huge role in helping the team win matches and whenever I attend any training session I also practice batting since whenever I get the chance, I will try to score the winning runs like I did in the previous edition of the DPL and I do feel good when I score runs against bowlers and help the team win the match.