Poddar to lead, 4 new faces in Odisha Ranji squad

Cuttack: Govind Poddar has retained his captaincy as selectors on Wednesday announced a 15-member Odisha squad for the first match of upcoming Ranji Trophy starting next week.

While pace bowler Basant Mohanty has been selected as the vice captain of team, four new faces- Sandip Patnaik, Abinash saha, Subhranshu Senapati and Rashmi Ranjan Sahoo- have been included in the squad that will lock horns with Vidarbha in its first match on October 6.

Meanwhile, Biplab Samatray, who had lost his captaincy halfway in the last Ranji season due to minimal performance, has managed make a place in the 15-member team.

While Natraj Behera,the star performer for Odisha in the last Ranji season, has been excluded from the team on fitness ground, wicket keeper batsman Rajesh Dhuper, spinner Jayant Behera and pace bowler Alok Mangaraj have been excluded from team.

Team: Govind Poddar (captain), Basant Mohanty (vice-captain), Sandip Patnaik, Abinash saha, Ranjit Singh, Biplab Samantarai, Anurag Sarangi, Subhranshu Senapati, Pratik Das, Haladhara Das, Suryakanta Pradhan, Dipak Behera, Alok Sahoo, Dhiraj Singh and Rashmi Ranjan Sahoo.