Bengal Will Not Release Pragya Ojha: Sourav Ganguly
Aug 30, 2017 at 10:08 PM
Sourav Ganguly, the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), has said that they will not release Pragyan Ojha for the upcoming season, which means that the left-arm spinner will be forced to play for Bengal in 2017/18 season,
“He wanted a release but we have not given him. Bengal signed him when Hyderabad was in Plate. We need his service, and how can he leave us now,” Ganguly said at Eden Gardens today.
(Read Here: Virender Sehwag backs Virat Kohli)
This news has surely come as a big disappointment for Ojha as he was keen to play for his native state Hyderabad in this season. He had asked for an NOC from CAB a few months back and was positive of getting it from the state association. Later though, Bengal selectors named him in the pre-season Ranji Trophy camp, thus delaying a decision on him. Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) later wrote a letter to BCCI to look into the matter and a day after that, Ganguly has clearly said that Ojha will not be released.
Now, HCA has also taken its step backward as T Seshnarayan, the Secretary of the state board said,
“If they are not releasing Ojha what can we do? We have high regards for Ganguly, he’s a former India captain and he will take a decision in the best interest of the game and cricketers in Bengal.”
(Read Here: Suresh Raina to lead a side in Duleep Trophy)
Ojha joined Bengal ahead of the start of 2015-16 due to the fact that Bengal was elite team whereas Hyderabad used to be a side which used to play at plate level. He had mixed two seasons with Bengal as he could not produce the results in Ranji Trophy 2016/17 whereas was one of the best bowlers for the team in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2016/17, which also included a fifer against MS Dhoni led Jharkhand in the semi-final. Bengal ended the tournament as the runner-up as they lost the final to Tamil Nadu in a low scoring encounter.
The upcoming domestic season is set to kick off on September 7 with BCCI reintroducing the pink ball Duleep Trophy which was earlier scrapped from the domestic season 2017/18.
(Read Here: I should be ready to play whenever I get a chance: Shardul Thakur)
(Read Here: Australia will respect us more after this win: Shakib-al-Hasan)