Tamil Nadu’s Pradosh Ranjan Paul has gained a reputation for his batting. He even scored 163 against South Africa-A on his debut for India-A in South Africa in December. But he’s also an able bowler—an off-spinner who can bowl the carrom ball.
Besides his two fifties (71 and 65), his two-wicket haul (two for 18) also contributed to his player-of-the-match award in Tamil Nadu’s seven-wicket win over Goa in the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy here.
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In Goa’s second innings, he had K.V. Siddharth, one of its two prime batters, edge to Baba Indrajith at first slip to break the 59-run third-wicket partnership with Suyash Prabhudessai. It was crucial since that partnership frustrated Tamil Nadu on the third day.
After the win on Monday, Pradosh spoke of his bowling ability. “I’ve been bowling a lot in age-group cricket and all that. It’s just now that I’ve started bowling in men’s cricket.
“For my U-23 team, I was the leading wicket-taker in a recent white-ball tournament. So, I’ve been bowling, and I’m always ready to bowl,” he said.
He refers to the BCCI U-23 men’s State-A Trophy one-day cricket tournament that concluded in November. With 13 wickets, he was the leading wicket-taker for Tamil Nadu in the tournament.
Asked if he bowls or has been working on anything other than the conventional off-break, he revealed, “I just bowl the carrom ball.”
And that’s not all there is to him. He can keep wickets too!
“I used to keep. If given an opportunity, I will definitely keep in the shorter formats. But my first priority will always be bowling,” he said.
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