Laxmi Ratan Shukla

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Laxmi Ratan Shukla Biography

Laxmi Ratan Shukla was drafted into the squad for the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship match against Sri Lanka. He was only 17, and had taken 3 for 55 and 1 for 32 against a very strong Pakistan team for Indian Board President’s XI. However, Ashish Nehra, flown in at the last moment, made his Test debut instead. Shukla did not play a Test.

He made his ODI debut a month later. He played 3 ODIs in all, opening bowling in 2 of them. He got a solitary wicket, his economy rate read 4.94, but he never got going with bat.

His legacy lay in domestic cricket, where he played for almost two decades, scoring 6,217 runs at 36 with his hard-hitting style and taking 172 wickets at 35 with his medium-paced bowling. His magnum opus came against Assam in 2010-11, when he amassed 250 and added 417 for the sixth wicket with Wriddhiman Saha. It remains a record stand for any wicket for Bengal.

He played 137 matches, and was the first to make 100 appearances for Bengal, leading them with gusto when it came to that. He also led Bengal to their Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph, in 2011-12, leading from the front, starting with a 96-ball 151* against Jharkhand. He saved his best for the final, taking 4 for 38 and smashed a 90-ball 106*. His tournament aggregate read 291 runs at 58, 11 wickets at 24, and an economy rate of 4.59.

In IPL he represented Kolkata Knight Riders (who did not release him over the first five seasons) and Delhi Daredevils, and finished with a strike rate of 121 and an economy of 7.11. It was surprising that he was never considered for T20Is despite his obvious prowess in IPL.

Following his retirement in 2015, Shukla became a MLA for Indian Trinamool Congress.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Laxmi Ratan Shukla Batting & Fielding Averages

Career

Avg

100s

50s

Test

ODIs

T20s

World Cup

Laxmi Ratan Shukla Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
ODIs	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
T20s	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		--