Pragyan Ojha has not been named in the Bengal squad for the two practice game against Gujarat, which will from September 17. As per the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), Ojha is yet to contact the board regarding the upcoming season and has not joined the practice camp as well.
(Read Here: Dhoni and Virat pillars of Indian cricket: Yuzvendra Chahal)
It is to be noted that Ojha wanted an NOC from CAB to play for Hyderabad in the upcoming season. The state association did not let him go as Sourav Ganguly, the President of the state board had said that Ojha joined the team when Hyderabad was a plate level team. He explained his desire to have Ojha in the team and hence, Ojha was not given the clearance from the board.
This is seen as a prime reason for no contact between board and Ojha, and the selectors were forced to announce a team without him. It is still a matter of concern whether Ojha will play the upcoming season or not as he wanted to represent his native team Hyderabad but is now being forced to stay back in Bengal. As of now, he is a member of the preliminary squad for the upcoming Ranji season.
Ojha joined Bengal before the start of 2015/16 season on the advice of Ganguly. He did well in his first season, but his form dipped down in the Ranji season 2016/17. Though he performed well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the damage was already done when reports of him being called an outsider came out.
Ojha is yet to comment on the issue regarding his exclusion from the side.
(Read Here: Michael Clarke rates better than Steven Smith in limited overs cricket)
The upcoming Ranji Trophy season will start from October 6. At present, the domestic players are playing Duleep Trophy. Ojha is not a member of any of the squads.
Bengal squad for practice games: Shreevats Goswami (c), Anustup Majumder, Koushik Ghosh, Purab Joshi, Abhishek Raman, Abhishek Mitra, Agniv Pan, Writtick Chatterjee, Aamir Gani, Pradipta Pramanik, Aritra Chatterjee, B Amit, Sayan Ghosh, Ishan Porel, Kanishk Seth, Mukesh Kumar and Sourav Mondal.
(Read Here: Ajinkya Rahane thank Sachin Tendulkar for helping him during net session)
(Read Here: Virat Kohli commands respect in Indian dressing room)