Shiv Sunder Das raises his bat during his first Test century against Zimbabwe at Nagpur in 2000 AFP
Shiv Sunder Das raises his bat during his first Test century against Zimbabwe at Nagpur in 2000 AFP

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) today appointed former India opening batsman Shiv Sundar Das as the coach of the state’s senior and Ranji team. Das replaced former India fast bowler Debasish Mohanty as the coach. Mohanty was the coach of state cricket team since January 2011 after succeeding Australia’s Michael Bevan. Sources said Mohanty had desired to leave the post reportedly for personal reasons.

Das has represented India in 23 Test matches and scored 1,326 runs at an average of 38.91. The OCA at its working committee meeting held at Cuttack yesterday also appointed Suresh Kumar, Kulamani Parida and Subrat Behera as coaches of the state’s Under-23, Under-19 and Under-16 men’s cricket teams, respectively. Similarly, Rashmita Mohanty has been appointed as the coach for women senior and U-23 team and Itishree Pattnaik as the coach of women U-19 team, said an official of the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA).

Bishnudev Mohanty took over as the chairman of the selection committee for Ranji and U-22 teams while Deepak Mangaraj will serve as the chairman of the committee for junior U-19 and U-16 teams. Bidhan Chandra Rout has been appointed as the chairman of women’s selection committee, an OCA release said