Ranga Sohoni

Sriranga Wasudev 'Ranga' Sohoni  pronunciation  (born 5 March 1918, Nimbahera, Rajasthan - died 19 May 1993, Thana, Maharashtra) was an Indian Test cricketer.

Sohoni toured England in 1946 and Australia in 1947/48 with the Indian team. He opened the bowling against England is the two Tests that he played in the former tour, though he was hardly quick. At Old Trafford the last wicket partnership of Dattaram Hindlekar and Sohoni hung around for 13 minutes to avoid a defeat.

Sohoni played for Bombay, Maharashtra, and Baroda in the Ranji Trophy. He won titles with the first two teams and lost the 1948-49 final with Baroda. He captained Bombay and Maharashtra in eleven Ranji matches and captained Bombay in their win in 1953-54. Sohoni played for the Bombay University side between 1938-39 and 1940-41 and captained them in the second of those years. He also appeared in one unofficial Test.

In Ranji Trophy, his finest season was 1940-41 when he helped Maharashtra retain their title. Against Western India in the zonal final, he scored a career best 218* and put on 342* for the fourth wicket with Vijay Hazare, then an Indian record for any wicket. In the last innings of the final against Madras, he hit 104 on a crumbling wicket. He scored 655 runs in the Ranji season, a new record, at an average of 131 and 808 in all first class matches with five hundreds.

Sohoni "was tall, fair skinned and light eyed" with "film star looks". He was offered a role in movies by V. Shantaram .

He was a pro in Lancashire League with Lower House Club. He did B.A(Hons) and served in various government departments before retiring as a class I officer in the government of Maharashtra.

His death was due to a heart attack.

References

• Obituary in Indian Cricket 1993
• ^ Mihir Bose, A History of Indian Cricket
• ^ Richard Cashman, Patrons, Players and the Crowd

External links

• Cricinfo Profile
• Cricketarchive Profile