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Ranga Sohoni

Overview

Ranga Sohoni was an Indian first-class cricketer who represented India in Test matches during the 1940s. An all-rounder, he played for Maharashtra and later Bengal in domestic cricket and was part of the Indian team that toured England in 1946 under Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi.

Key facts

Full name Sriranga Walter Sohoni
Born 1918
Died 1993
Nationality Indian
Role All-rounder (right-hand batsman, right-arm medium-pace bowler)
Domestic teams Maharashtra, Bengal
National side India (Test cricket)

Background

Sohoni emerged in Indian domestic cricket in the late 1930s, a period when the Ranji Trophy, instituted in 1934, was establishing itself as the country's premier first-class competition. He came to prominence playing for Maharashtra, a side that produced several leading Indian cricketers of the era.

Career

Domestic cricket

Sohoni was a regular in the Maharashtra side that won the Ranji Trophy in the early 1940s, contributing with both bat and ball. He later moved to Bengal, continuing his first-class career in eastern India. As an all-rounder, he was valued for his ability to open the bowling and bat in the middle order.

International cricket

Sohoni was selected in the Indian Test side during the 1940s. He was a member of the India squad that toured England in 1946, the first Indian tour of England after the Second World War, captained by the Nawab of Pataudi senior. He featured in Test matches during this period of Indian cricket's pre- and post-independence transition.

Significance

Sohoni belongs to the generation of Indian cricketers who bridged the pre-independence and post-independence eras of the national side. His career illustrates the prominence of Maharashtra and Bombay-region cricket in the formative years of the Ranji Trophy and India's early Test history.

References