Kolkata: Finished seventh among eight teams in Elite Group D ranji trophy last season, OrissaUnder new coach Surendra Bhavehoping their season can get off to a better start as they will play away to Tripura exist Agartala Starting on Friday.
veteran Govinda Poddar Having been given the responsibility of captaincy for the first two rounds, the top-order batsman believes they are better prepared this time than in previous seasons.
“As captain of the team, I am very confident about our chances this season. We are better prepared than we have been in the past four to five seasons. The pre-season this year has been very good and we have played a lot of games outside Odisha. Seven years ago After that we played in the KSCA Invitational and then we played Services and Andhra in Visakhapatnam. Training in the eastern part of the country is difficult and we lost a lot of valuable time here. You can be well prepared,” Poddar told TOI from Agartala ahead of the first match.
Highlights important coaching staff orissa cricket association (OCA) Ahead of the start of the season, the right-handed batsman added: “Bhav sir has been very good to us and in my opinion he is the best external coach Odisha has had in recent years. The way he handles the players Surprisingly, he has great communication skills. Narendra Khwani Sir joins us in the pre-season as a spin bowling consultant, which assists both seniors and budding spin bowlers in the state.
When asked about the importance of the pre-season sessions conducted by renowned mental coach Dr Swarup Savanur, Poddar said: “It has been very helpful for all the players. We have been thinking about what to do in the past few years. Seek help from a psychological coach during the year.
On playing against Tripura at home, the skipper said: “It would be foolish to underestimate any team now, Tripura is a good team with three professional players (batsmen). Mandeep Singh Jiwanjot Singh and the wicketkeeper-batsman Srinivas Sarath) on the side. Our core team is intact with batsman Anil Parida being the only new member of the 17-strong squad. So we are confident of achieving good results this season. I just hope it doesn’t rain during the game and the field stays good, because it’s been raining incessantly for the last few days and the outfield is in terrible shape.
