Ahmedabad: Odisha will eye to buck the trend of their dismal performance in the last three seasons as they begin their current Ranji Trophy campaign with the first match against Gujarat at the Narendra Modi Stadium Ground ‘B in Motera, Ahmedabad on Sunday.
But it won’t be easy. They are in a tight group with teams like Bengal, Delhi, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra and Services.
As always, much will depend on skipper Subhranshu Senapati. If he can make the runs at the top of the order — he averaged almost 42 with the bat last season — they can have a chance of creating something special.
During the recently held Odisha Pro T20 League, Senapati was in form as he led his team, Keonjhar Miners, to the title. Thanks to the league, members of the Odisha team have had some substantial game time, albeit in white-ball cricket, before the start of the Ranji season.
The Odisha T20 league has been a recent addition to the domestic calendar and it will come as a boon to the state’s players because, apart from providing employment opportunities, it will allow them to get back into the groove before the start of the domestic season. The other batting mainstays are Shantanu Mishra and Swastik Samal.
With the ball, much will depend on Rajesh Mohanty. There is also a lot of excitement around Sayed Tufayl Ahmad, the 18-year-old left-arm spinner. In his only previous first-class game, against Jharkhand at the fag end of last season, he returned a match haul of 8/181. They also have other youngsters.
If they need inspiration to go on an unlikely run, they only need to look at one of their opponents, Kerala. Not so long ago, Kerala were struggling to create an impact. In the 2024-25 campaign, they finished runners-up. Outside of Kerala, they also have the story of J&K for added motivation.
Odisha’s Last Three Seasons:
2023-24: Group stage
2024-25: Group stage
2025-26: Group stage
Odisha Schedule
11 Oct: vs Gujarat, Ahmedabad
18 Oct: vs Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
26 Oct: vs Services, Bhubaneswar
2 Nov: vs Jharkhand, Bhubaneswar
17 Jan: vs Delhi, Kataka
24 Jan: vs Maharashtra, Pune
1 Feb: vs Bengal, Kolkata
Squad: Swastik Samal, Subhranshu Senapati (captain), Om Munde, Gourav Choudhary, Shreyansh Bhardwaj, Sandeep Pattanaik, Shantanu Mishra, Aashirwad Swain (wicket keeper), Dinesh Majhi, Ninad Rathva, Lalit Yadav, Rajesh Mohanty, Prashant Rana, Soumya Lenka, Sambit Beja, Sayed Tufayl Ahmad, Badal Biswal.