Who Is Jai Saxena? Indian-origin teenager drafted by Collingwood FC in AFL

Before committing fully to Australian football, Jai Saxena played both basketball and cricket.

Jai Saxena became the second dual-Indian heritage player to be drafted to the Australian Football League (AFL). It all happened after Collingwood FC picked the 18-year-old during the league’s Rookie Draft.

Saxena was a part of Collingwood’s Next Generation Academy and represented Oakleigh Chargers in the Coates Talent League. The forward scored nine goals in the first three games for Oakleigh, which also included a five-goal haul.

As a result of his impressive performances, Jai Saxena played for Vic Metro in two games at the U18s National Championships.

On that note, let’s take a detailed look at the journey of Saxena so far.

Jai Saxena was born in Melbourne to Indian parents

According to Collingwood FC, Jai Saxena’s maternal grandparents are Fijian-Indians and they migrated to Australia 40 years ago. Saxena’s mom and uncle were born in Australia, while his dad grew up in Delhi and moved to Darwin for university studies at the age of 19.

During his studies, Saxena’s dad met his mother and they moved to Melbourne after some years. As a result, the emerging footballer was born in the city in 2007.

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Here is what the youngster said about the Indian heritage:

“We have lived in an Australian way, but we’ve always kept our Indian heritage with us. But football has always been central to how we’ve lived.”

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A post shared by Jai Saxena (@jai_saxena_27)

How Saxena’s football journey start?

Although, Jai Saxena played a bit of cricket in his younger days, his main sports were basketball and Australian football. The older Saxena took his son to Auskick, which is the Australian Rules Football program, at the Beverly Hills.

Saxena then played his first proper game at under-eights and continued to follow his passion. He produced consistent performances and climbed through the ranks to play for the representative teams and finally for the Oakleigh Chargers and Collingwood’s NGA squad.

Interestingly, as per Saxena, his family supports him in his endeavor, but are drawn mainly into cricket. Her mother wanted him to take up cricket or soccer, due to the physicality involved in Australian football.

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A post shared by Collingwood Football Club (@collingwood_fc)

A major turnaround in 2025

In 2024, Saxena faced a challenging period where his performance fell short of his expectations. However, after getting selected in the pre-season squad at Oakleigh, he regained his confidence.

He wanted to erase the thoughts of performing to get selected in the draft, and he followed the mantra of, “If you are playing to get yourself drafted, then it’s not going to work.”

The mindset helped Jai Saxena to attain success at the 2025 edition of the Coates Talent League for Oakleigh, finishing with 18 goals in 10 games.

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