Jigar Kumar Hakumatrai Naik (born 10 August 1984) is an English cricket player. Jigar was born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and educated at Rushey Mead School and Gateway College in the city. He is, as of June 2015, playing for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

. Naik who played for Kibworth and Billesdon as well as

Loughborough MCCU Loughborough MCC University (previously known as Loughborough University Centre of Cricketing Excellence) is a cricket coaching centre based at Loughborough University in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, and the name under which the universi ...

, made history when he became the first Leicester-born Asian to play for Leicestershire in a first-class game against a touring West Indies A side. Naik took one wicket, that of test batsmen

Dwayne Smith Dwayne Romel Smith (born 12 April 1983) is a former Barbadian international cricketer who has represented the West Indies in all three formats of the game. An all-rounder, he is known as an aggressive and powerful right-handed batsman, bowls ...

. In Naik's first county game against

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

in the

Pro40 The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect large numbers of matches being played on da ...

, he took 3/24. Naik has been a consistsent performer since 2009. In 2009 he was named Leicestershire's most improved uncapped player. In 2010, Naik topped the national bowling averages with 35 wickets at an average of 17.59, including 7–96 against

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

. A lot of credit for this has to go to his spin partner at Leics, Claude Henderson. Both received new 2-year contracts at the end of the 2011 season. Naik missed a large part of the 2012 season when he damaged ankle ligaments in early May, not making a comeback until August. Naik did make an excellent start to the 2013 season when he took 5–98 against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

in early May. His season came to a premature end when he dislocated a shoulder against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

on 12 July.

References

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* 1984 births Living people British Asian cricketers Cricketers from Leicester Dorset cricketers Dorset cricket captains English cricketers English people of Indian descent Leicestershire Cricket Board cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Loughborough MCCU cricketers Sportspeople of Indian descent 21st-century English sportsmen {{england-cricket-bio-1980s-stub