Published: Jul 20, 2016, 11:01 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 20, 2016, 01:21 PM (IST)
Born July 20, 1976, Debasis Mohanty, player from Odisha, who made it into Team India. Mohanty has played played two Tests and 45 ODIs in his career. He has four Test wickets and 57 ODI wickets to his name. One special fact about the fast bowler is that he once picked up 10 wickets in an innings in 2001 between East Zone and South Zone during Duleep Trophy match. A fascinating part about the match was that the opponent team had India’s most dependable batsmen- Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Mohanty still considers that spell as one of the best he ever bowled.
It must be taken into account that Dravid and Laxman were at the peak of their career when he picked up their wickets, helping East Zone triumph over South Zone. People who have seen him play would know that his action was an unorthodox one. He managed to climb up in the Top 20 of ICC Rankings as he grabbed 29 wickets in 17 matches, early on in his career. He had an impressive average of under 20 which was quite commendable. He performed well on pitches that favored swing bowling. It is quite unfortunate that Mohanty could not perform well on flat pitches.
Over the period of time, he was overshadowed by Ajit Agarkar. He could not make a comeback to the team with the advent of quality bowlers, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. He has a fantastic First-Class record picking up 417 wickets in 118 matches at an average of 21.05. If he got more chances overseas, his international statistics would have looked much better.
