BHUBANESWAR 30-Jun-2013 294
Bhubaneswar, June 30: Odisha`s pace spearhead Basant Mohanty and all-rounder Biplab Samantaray were presented with the Saheed Sporting-Maruti Estate Cricketer of the Year Awards in a function here at a city hotel today. Mohanty bagged the awards for the seasons 2010-11 and 2012-13, while Samantaray got it for the year 2011-12. The former received a cheque of Rs 50,000 and the latter Rs 25,000.
Odisha Cricket Association secretary Asirbad Behera handed over the awards in the presence of hockey Olympian-turned-MP Dilip Tirkey, Maruti Estate India MD Jitendra Prasad Singh and Saheed Sporting Club secretary Pankaj Patnaik.
Madhuri Meheta, Rasanara Parbin and Swagatika Rath, the three international woman cricketers of the state, were felicitated on the occasion with cash awards of Rs 5,000 each. Among the trio, Madhuri and Rasanara could not be present as they are busy attending the senior national camp at Guntur (AP).
The award function turned out to be good occasion for eminent cricketers and coaches of the state to get together. Former Test stars Debasis Mohanty, Shiv Sudar Das; leading first-class players Rashmi Ranjan Parida, P Jayachandra, Bishnudev Mohanty, Sourabh Sehgal and coach Kishore Mania drew attention among them.
Appreciating Saheed Sporting`s contribution for promotion of cricket in the state, OCA secretary suggested the club to institute similar awards for outstanding junior cricketers. ``Saheed Sporting Club has done a magnificent job by producing one Test and scores fist-class cricketers. OCA will extend all possible help to to carry on with the good work. It would be nice if the club introduces similar awards for junior cricketers as well,`` he said.
``OCA has been giving Rs 25,000 for this award function for four years now and the amount will be increased to Rs 1 lakh from next year,`` announced an elated Behera.
Instituted in the year 1992-93, the Saheed Sporting-Maruti Estate Cricketer of the Year Award has so far been conferred on 13 cricketers. Debasis Mohanty has bagged the award for a record five times, while Pravanjan Mullick and Basant Mohanty have received it three times each.
Other 10 awardees include Ranjib Biswal, P Jayachandra, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Prashant Mohapatra, Shiv Sundar Das, Sanjay Satpathy, BBCC Mohapatra, Deepak Mangaraj, Dhiraj Singh and Biplab Samantaray.
ROLL OF HONOUR:
1992-93: Ranjib Biswal, 1993-94: P Jayachandra, 1994-95: Rashmi Ranjan Parida, 1995-96: Prasant Mohapatra, 1996-97: Debasis Mohanty, 1997-98: Pravanjan Mullick, 1998-99: Shiv Sundar Das, 1999-2000: Sanjay Satpathy, 2000-01: Debasis Mohanty, 2001-02: Pravanjan Mullick, 2002-03: BBCC Mohapatra, 2003-04: Deepak Mangaraj, 2004-05: Debasis Mohanty, 2005-06: Pravanjan Mullick, 2006-07: Debasis Mohanty, 2007-08: Debasis Mohanty, 2008-09: Basant Mohanty, 2009-10: Dhiraj Singh, 2010-11: Basant Mohaty, 2011-12: Biplab Samantaray, 2012-13: Basant Mohanty.
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PHOTO: Biplab Samantaray (left), Swagatika Rath (centre) and Basant Mohanty at the Cricketer of the Year Award function in Bhubaneswar on June 30, 2013.
