Sujith Somasunder

Sujith Bijjahalli Somasundar (Kannada: ಸುಜಿತ್‌ ಬಿಜ್ಜಹಳ್ಳಿ ಸೋಮಸುಂದರ್‌) (born 2 December 1972 in Bangalore, India) is a former Indian cricketer. He played domestic cricket for Karnataka and played two One Day Internationals for India in 1996

Early Domestic Career

Sujith Somasundar got his chance on the basis of some fine performances around the domestic circuit in Karnataka. A gutsy batsman, Somasundar made his first appearance for Karnataka in the 1990-91 season but was not given a regular place in the side for about four seasons. He really flowered in 1994-95 when, pushed into opening, he responded immediately by scoring a century against Goa. Sujith Somasundar was a key member for Karnataka during the 1996 Ranji Trophy season. He hit two centuries and five half centuries to play a leading role in Karnataka's triumph in the Ranji Trophy. He made 99 and 53 in the Ranji Finals.

International Call Up

After impressive performances in the domestic tournaments, Sujith Somasundar was called up to the Indian Cricket Team for the Titan Cup. He made his debut against South Africa at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad. He scored 9 and was run out by Daryll Cullinan.^[1]. He then played his last game for India at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. He was dismissed by Glenn McGrath for 7. India won a thrilling match by 2 wickets.^[2].

Later Domestic Career

Rejected by the national selectors, Somasundar continued to be in good form and in the 1997-98 season, aggregated 629 runs. This was followed by a fine performance the next year when he helped Karnataka to another Ranji Trophy triumph by scoring 529 runs. In the 1998 final against Uttar Pradesh, Somasundar scored a fine 68. During the 1990s, He was part of a Karnataka setup that contributed many players to the Indian team like Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Venkatesh Prasad, David Johnson, Sunil Joshi.

In 2002, playing for Kerala, he scored his highest first class score of 222 against Tripura. He scored over 1000 runs that season. He turned out for Saurashtra in the final years of his career and retired in 2007. ^[3] Currently, Sujith Somasundar works as a Training Manager for Wipro Technologies. ^[4]. He is also a part-time sports psychologist having trained under Dr. Patrick Cohn, a recognized sports psychologist in the United States.Sujith has visited many schools educating students on current cricket techniques including the eligible hook shot.^[5]

References

• Player profile: Sujith Somasunder from ESPNcricinfo

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