29-Sep-2006 85
Lying low due to repeated failures to regain lace in the Elite Division of the Ranji Trophy Championship, Orissa Ranji team is believed to have ragained its spirit following a five-month-long playing stint in England by five leading cricketers.
After putting up impressive performance in English and Scottish League four of them — India discards Debasis Mohanty, Shiv Sundar Das, Sanjay Raul and Rashmi Ranjan Parida — now feel recharged and and raring to do well in Ranji Trophy championship.
DEBASIS MOHANTY: Playing 16 matches for Colwyn Bay Club, the first Orissa Test cricketer Mohanty bagged 53 wickets, including five five-wicket hauls in the Premier Division of the Littlewoods League. He finished as the second highest wicket taker and helped his club finish runners-up in the league, behind Bottle.
The tall swing bowler’s best performance was an eight-wicket haul against Lytham. Pak spinner Saqlain Mustaq, speedster Mohammad Sami, Shabir Ahmed played in the same league.
This was Mohanty’s second season for Colwyn Bay. Last year, he had bagged 87 wickets in 24 matches.
SHIV SUNDAR DAS: Playing 20 matches for Liverpool Cricket Club, former India Test opener Das emerged as the top scorer in the Littlewoods First Division League, accumulating 1,223 runs, including two centuries and eight fifties.
His club finished fourth in the league, narrowly missing promotion to the Premier Division. Nilesh Kulkarni, Rakesh Patel, Kiran Pawar, Shiv Sagar Singh, Sanjay Pande are other known Indiancricketers who featured in the same league for other clubs.
This was Das’ fourth full season in English league cricket. He earlier played for Newton Le Willows. He hopes play county cricket (the top domestic competition in England) for Lancashire’s second team next year.
RASHMI RANJAN PARIDA: Parida played for North Allerton Town Cricket Club in the North Yorkshir-Shouth Durham Premier League. In 22 matches, he scored 1,070 runs, which included four hundreds and five fifties. His best was an unbeaten 142 against Marske Cricket Club. He also did a good job as the second wicket-keeper, bagging 22 catches and five stumpings in 14 matches.
Initially, Parida struggled for runs, hitting just one fifty in 10 matches. ‘‘I found it difficult to cope with the soft wickets and lateral movement of the ball,’’ explained the Indian Airlines traffic assistant.
It was Parida’s second stint in England, coming after a gap of six years. He earlier played in the Bolton League in 2000.
Parida’s impressive contribution helped his club finish second among 13 teams. Great Ayton, against whom Parida slammed a ton, emerged champions.
Parida played in a league, which featured many known Asian players including Amol Mujumdar, Rahul Sangvi, Navdeep Singh (all India): Riyaz Afridi, Mohammad Zahid, Tariq Ajiz (all Pakistan): Disanayake and Gunaratne (both Sri Lanka).
SANJAY RAUL: Raul, who has been playing English league for past nine years, featured in the Scottish League this season. Representing Irvine Club in 14 matches, the former India all-rounder scored over 900 runs, including four hundreds and equal number of fifties, He also claimed 30 wickets with his off-break bowling.
