Bhubaneswar: When Subhrangshu Senapati was picked by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 20 lakh at the players’ auction on Sunday, he became the fifth Odia cricketer to bag an IPL contract.
It was way back in 2008, the first season of IPL, that Haladar Das made his IPL debut for Deccan Chargers. The wicketkeeper-batsman managed to score only 2 runs in the home game against Mumbai Indians.
That turned out to be his only appearance Australian great and hard-hitting batsman Adam Gilchrist was the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper.
Released by Deccan Chargers after that season, Das continued to play domestic cricket. His last first-class match was in 2016.
The Odisha cricketer with maximum IPL experience happens to be former state captain Biplab Samantray. He represented Sunrisers Hyderabad in nine matches between 2012 and 2015.
A solid right-handed batsman and an occasional medium-pacer, Samantray made his Ranji debut for Odisha in the 2010-11 season. He has played 46 first-class matches, aggregating 2046 runs. In 32 List A games, he has scored 852 runs while in 41 T20 fixtures, he totalled 558 runs.
The 33-year-old Samantray was a member of East Zone team which won its maiden Duleep Trophy title in 2011-12.
Two other Odia players did feature in the IPL but were not representing Odisha.
Former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who played for Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians, never played for his home state. Allrounder Abhisek Raut, on the other hand, turned out for Rajasthan Royals in the 2009 IPL – played in South Africa – but he was a member of the Maharashtra Ranji team at that time.
