Dodda Narasiah Ganesh (; born 30 June 1973) is a former

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

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 st ...

er who played in 4

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and one

ODI ODI may refer to: * Object Design, Incorporated, a defunct database software company * One Day International, cricket match * Open Data Institute, a UK not-for-profit company promoting open data * Open Data-Link Interface, an implementation of ...

in 1997. He was a right-arm seam bowler and useful lower-order batsman. Ganesh failed to make an impression in his limited Test opportunities, picking up just five wickets at an average of 57.40. In first-class cricket, he took 365 wickets from 104 matches, including 299 at 27.09 for his domestic team

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

Early career

Dodda Ganesh started as a wicket-keeper and an opening batsman. His idols while growing up were

K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan Karumanaseri Narayanaiyer Ananthapadmanabhan (born 8 September 1969) is an Indian former first-class cricketer from the state of Kerala. He played for the India "A" national team in international cricket and for South Zone and Kerala in India ...

, the Kerala wicket-keeper, and India's World Cup-winning wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani.

Gundappa Viswanath Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath (born 12 February 1949) is a former Indian cricketer. Vishwanath was rated as one of India's finest batsmen throughout the 1970s. Viswanath played Test cricket for India from 1969 to 1983, making 91 appearances ...

spotted his bowling talent and enrolled him at the Chikna club. Early days he played in the streets of Balehonnur, where he played with the likes of Ismail. Frustrated with the lack of opportunities, he shifted to AV Jayaprakash's training camp, where he prospered as a bowler and was forced into the

side.

Domestic career

The 1990s was the golden era for Karnataka cricket. Despite making his debut in the 1994-95 season, Ganesh could not get a permanent slot in the

team. Due to the presence of

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 ...

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 ...

Anil Kumble Anil Kumble (; born 17 October 1970) is a former Indian cricket captain, coach and commentator who played Test and One Day International cricket for his national team over an international career of 18 years. Widely regarded as one of the best ...

and

Sunil Joshi Sunil Bandacharya Joshi (; born 6 June 1970) is an Indian former cricketer and former selector of the India cricket team. He played as an all-rounder who bowled slow left arm spin and batted left-handed. Sunil Joshi was appointed as chief sel ...

. Ganesh had limited opportunities to show his talent. In the

Irani Trophy Irani Trophy or Irani Cup also known as the Mastercard Irani Trophy due to sponsorship reasons, is a first-class cricket tournament organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). . It is played annually between the winners of ...

in 1996-97, he picked up 11 wickets, including

V. V. S. Laxman Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman (; born 1 November 1974) is a former Indian international cricketer and a former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-hand batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in T ...

and

Navjot Singh Sidhu Navjot Singh Sidhu (born 20 October 1963) is an Indian National Congress politician, television personality and retired international cricketer. He is the former President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Formerly, he was the Minister of T ...

, and he stormed into national reckoning. After this performance, he was selected for the Indian cricket team's tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

International career

Ganesh made his international debut in the 2nd Test against

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He bowled 24 overs in the first innings without success. He took his first Test wicket in the second innings when he trapped

Gary Kirsten Gary Kirsten (born 23 November 1967) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. He has coached the Indian Cricket Team as well as the South African Cricket team. Kirsten played 101 Test matches and 185 One Day Internationals for ...

leg before wicket. India suffered a huge defeat in this game. He kept his place for the next Test at

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

. He just bowled nine overs in the game, as South Africa hung on for a draw. Despite not having a brilliant tour, he was selected for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

tour in 1997. During the 3rd Test at

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

, he picked up four wickets, including

Carl Hooper Carl Llewelyn Hooper (born 15 December 1966) is a former Guyanese cricketer who captained the West Indies in Tests and ODIs. An all-rounder, he was a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a sid ...

, in both innings. Despite having only 120 runs to chase,

stumbled in the 2nd innings to be all out for 81. Ganesh played one more rain-affected Test at

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Later career

Ganesh returned to the Karnataka side and became the team's bowling mainstay. Over a long career from 1994-95 to 2005-06, he took 365 wickets. His best bowling figures were 7 for 36 (12 for 89 in the match) against

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

in 2002-03. His batting became more valuable over the years. In 2002-03 he scored 536 runs at an average of 41.23, including his only century, 119 against

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a proposed state of central India, comprising the state's Amravati and Nagpur divisions. Amravati Division's former name is Be ...

After cricket

Dodda Ganesh has expressed an interest in politics and joined

Janata Dal (Secular) The Janata Dal (Secular) is an Indian political party led by former prime minister of India, H. D. Deve Gowda. The party is recognized as a State Party in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. It was formed in July 1999 by the ...

led by former

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

H. D. Deve Gowda Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karn ...

. He took up the position of coach of Goa in 2012-13.Dodda Ganesh: A fast bowler who was rushed into international cricket
/ref> In October 2016, he participated as a contestant on the

Bigg Boss Kannada 4 The fourth season of the Kannada-language version of Indian reality television series ''Bigg Boss'' premiered on on Colors Kannada at 6pm. Sudeep remained as the host as he hosted previous seasons. Among the five finalists, Pratham emerged ...

, and survived for two weeks.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganesh, Dodda 1973 births Indian cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers Karnataka cricketers South Zone cricketers Living people Cricketers from Bangalore Bigg Boss Kannada contestants