Debasish (or Debasis) Sarbeswar Mohanty (born 20 July 1976) is a former Indian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played in two

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

and 45

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s between 1997 and 2001. He was a right-arm medium-fast bowler who coupled pace to his naturally lanky frame. He found success in the limited-overs format, averaging under 30 and taking over one wicket per game. On 24 December 2020, Mohanty was appointed as the national selector of the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

International career

There was a period when Mohanty formed a strong new ball partnership with

Venkatesh Prasad Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad (; born 5 August 1969), is a former Indian cricketer, Cricket Coach , Commentator who played Tests and ODIs. He made his debut in 1994. Primarily a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Prasad was noted for his bowling ...

. Beginning at

1999 Cricket World Cup The 1999 Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Cricket World Cup '99) was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted primarily by England, with Scotland, Ireland, Wales ...

, he was the second highest Indian wicket taker despite playing four games fewer than the leading Indian wicket taker –

Javagal Srinath Javagal Srinath, (, born 31 August 1969) is a former Indian cricketer and currently an ICC match referee. He is considered among India's finest fast bowlers, and was the first Indian fast bowler to take more than 300 wickets in One Day Inter ...

. Mohanty played 17 ODIs and picked up 29 wickets at an average in the early 20s and climbed into the top 20 of the ICC ODI World Rankings. However, with the return of

Ajit Agarkar Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar (born 4 December 1977) is a former Indian cricketer and a commentator. He has represented India in more than 200 international matches in all three formats of the game. He is the third highest wicket-taker for India i ...

, his opportunities dwindled and he played only another seven games. Mohanty, along with

Harvinder Singh Harvinder Singh (born 23 December 1977, Amritsar, Punjab, India) is an Indian cricketer who played in three Tests and 16 One Day International (ODI) matches from 1997 to 2001. Harvinder made his debut in ODI cricket for India against Pak ...

was instrumental in winning one of the Sahara Cup series against Pakistan in

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in the 1990s. Mohanty was a potential pinch hitter but was never used by the Indian think tank. He was a very capable lower order batsman who could enthrall the crowd with his lusty blows. There was a brief period in Indian cricket when no 11 Mohanty along with no 10 Rahul Sanghvi entertained the crowd with monster sixes though in losing causes. His bowling action was more dangerous than the speed at which he delivered the ball. On flat pitches, he was advised to bowl off spin to save energy. In the 2000–01 season, Mohanty took ten for 46 playing in a

first-class match First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for East Zone v South Zone at Agartala, his career-best innings analysis, and so achieved the rare feat of taking all ten wickets in an innings.

Coaching career

In 2006, he joined Colwyn Bay Cricket Club in

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as the club professional. He is employed by NALCO,

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

. He has been appointed the coach for Odisha Ranji team since 2011 and after 7 years he had been replaced by another former Indian cricketer Shiv Sundar Das as the Coach in 2017. He replaced the former coach

Michael Bevan Michael Gwyl Bevan (born 8 May 1970) is a former Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left arm wrist-spin bowler. He has been credited for initiating the art of finishing matches. For several years, he was considered as ...

. He coached the East Zone team and East Zone created history by winning their first Duleep Trophy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohanty, Debasis 1976 births Indian cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers Living people Odisha cricketers East Zone cricketers Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Sportspeople from Bhubaneswar Cricketers from Odisha Cricketers who have taken ten wickets in an innings Indian cricket coaches Commonwealth Games competitors for India