Early years Saxena made his
first class debut for
Madhya Pradesh on 17 December 2005 in the
2005-06 Ranji Trophy. He made his
List A debut for Madhya Pradesh on 10 February 2006 in the
2005–06 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He made his
Twenty20 debut for Madhya Pradesh on 21 October 2009 in the
2009-10 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He was Madhya Pradesh's joint second highest wicket taker bagging 18 wickets in the
2007-08 Ranji Trophy. He scored 443 runs at an average of 55.37 in the
2008–09 Ranji Trophy including three centuries. In the
2008-09 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he topped the Madhya Pradesh bowlers and also scored his maiden List A century.
Consistent seasons Saxena scored 769 runs at an average of 69.90 in the
2012–13 Ranji Trophy including two centuries. He was included in the
India A team that played against the touring Australian team in February 2013, and scored 30
not out and took five wickets including the wickets of Test batsmen
Phillip Hughes,
Usman Khawaja and
Ed Cowan. Against New Zealand A in August 2013, he took figures of 6/103 and was the highest wicket-taker in that series. In the
2013–14 Ranji Trophy, Saxena scored 545 runs at an average of 41.92 with a top-score of 194, and took 35 wickets at an average of 19 including three
five-wicket hauls and two
ten-wicket hauls to finish among the top wicket-takers of the season. In the
2014–15 Ranji Trophy, Saxena hit two centuries and amassed 583 runs at an average of 44.84. In a match against Tamil Nadu, he scored 144 and then bowled with the match figures 4/74 and 3/109 in the first and second innings respectively to win the man of the match. He was awarded the
Lala Amarnath Award for best all-rounder by BCCI in January 2016. Saxena continued his impressive all-round performance in
2015–16 Ranji Trophy, scoring 588 runs at an average of 36.75 with a top-score of 124 and taking 49 wickets at an average of 22.55 including four five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. He recorded match figures of 16 for 154 against
Railways. He took eight wickets for 96 runs in the first innings and eight wickets for 58 runs in the second innings. These are the second-best figures in the history of the
Ranji Trophy. In the first match of the
2015–16 Vijay Hazare Trophy, opening the innings, Saxena scored a run-a-ball 133 against Saurashtra in a 300-plus run chase. He finished with 230 runs and eight wickets.
Move to Kerala Saxena signed a one-year contract with
Kerala as a professional player for the 2016–17 season. He was the leading wicket-taker in the
2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 44 dismissals and was fundamental in Kerala's first ever quarter-final entry in the season. He was also the second highest run getter for Kerala. In July 2018, he was named in the squad for India Green for the
2018–19 Duleep Trophy. He was the leading run-scorer for Kerala in the
2018–19 Ranji Trophy, with 551 runs in nine matches. In the match against
Andhra Pradesh in the season, he also became the only Indian to hit a century and take an eight-wicket innings-haul in the same match twice, having achieved the feat previously against
Rajasthan in the last season. In January 2019, he was picked in the India A team for their first four-day game against England Lions, thus earning a call-up to the India A side for the first time since 2013. In August 2019, he was named in the India Blue team's squad for the
2019–20 Duleep Trophy. In the second match of the tournament, he completed the double of scoring 6,000 runs and taking 300 wickets in first-class cricket and became the first uncapped Indian to achieve the feat. In September 2019, he was added to India A's squad for the first four-day match against South Africa A as a replacement for the injured
Krishnappa Gowtham. He scored an unbeaten 61 in the first match and was declared the man of the match. In October 2019, he was named in
India C's squad for the
2019–20 Deodhar Trophy and finished as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament. ==Indian Premier League==