Niranjan to lead Orissa in KSCA tourney

All-rounder Niranjan Behera was today named captain of a 14-member Orissa team for participation in the KSCA Invitational Cricket Tournament to be held at Bangalore from August 1 to 15. According to Orissa Cricket Association, before leaving for Bangalore, the team would join a preparatory camp, scheduled to begin at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on July 25. Behera was chosen as captain in the absence of former Test opener Shiv Sundar Das, who is now in England, playing domestic league there. But the responsibility, in fact, returned to Behera, who earlier led the State Ranji team. However, Behera will be under pressure to deliver success with a team that has many inexperienced players. With the KSCA tournament coming before the Ranji Trophy Championship, it will also be a test of the selection committee`s performance. ORISSA TEAM: Niranjan Behera (capt), Nataraj Behera, Paresh Patel, Rashmi Ranjan Das, Subit Biswal, Ansuman Gope (wk), Govind Poddar, Santosh Jena, Bibhudutta Panda, Dhiraj Singh, Deepak Behera, Alok Pradhan, Alok Mangaraj, Subhrajit Sahoo. Coach: Abakash Khatua.