Ajay Vrajlal Lalcheta (; born 22 October 1983) is an Indian-born

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for the

Oman national cricket team The Oman men's national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Oman in international matches and is governed by Oman Cricket, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000, and gained ass ...

. Lalcheta played underage cricket in India before emigrating to

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, making his debut for the Omani national side at the

2011 ACC Twenty20 Cup The 2011 ACC Twenty20 Cup was played between 3–11 December 2011 in Nepal. The tournament acted as a qualifying tournament for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. The tournament was won by defending champions Afghanistan who defeated Hong Ko ...

. He played five matches at the

2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played in early 2012 as a part of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier series. This edition of the qualifier for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 was an expanded version comprising ten qualifiers from regional Twe ...

in the United Arab Emirates, which were accorded

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

status.

Early career

Lalcheta played several seasons for

Saurashtra Saurashtra, Sourashtra, or variants may refer to: ** Kathiawar, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, a peninsula in western India ** Saurashtra (state), alias United State of Kathiawar, a former Indian state, merged into Bombay State and since its d ...

underage representative sides. He is a left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and

left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven ...

ner. He made his debut for the Saurashtra under-16s in November 1998, aged 15, in the 1998–99

Vijay Merchant Trophy Vijay may refer to: People *Vijay (name), people with the name *Vijay (actor) (born 1974), Indian Tamil actor and upcoming politician *Vijay (director) (1936–2020), Indian film director Films * ''Vijay'' (1942 film), a 1942 Indian Hindi film * ...

. In that tournament, he scored 187 runs, behind only Mahesh Bhutia (204 runs) for Saurashtra, most of which came in an innings of 87 against the

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

under-16s. Lalcheta went on to play at under-19 and under-22 level for Saurashtra, with his last match in an Indian domestic tournament coming in November 2005, in the C. K. Nayudu Trophy.Miscellaneous Matches played by Ajay Lalcheta (53)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

Oman career

After emigrating to

, Lalcheta made his debut for the national side at the

, where

finished third to qualify for the

2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played in early 2012 as a part of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier series. This edition of the qualifier for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 was an expanded version comprising ten qualifiers from regional Tw ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. At the

ACC Twenty20 Cup The ACC Twenty20 Cup was a 20-over cricket tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). The tournament did not include the ACC members who were full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) during the years in which it was ...

, he took eight wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 12.00, behind only Aamer Kaleem and

Hemal Mehta Hemal Jayantilal Mehta (born 6 March 1974 in Calicut) is an Indian-born left-handed cricketer who played for the Oman national cricket team The Oman men's national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Oman in internationa ...

(10 wickets each) for Oman. Against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, the eventual winner of the tournament, he took 4/13 from 3.3 overs, though the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award went to Afghan

Hamid Hassan Hamid Hassan (; born 1 June 1987) is a former Afghan cricketer. He is a right-arm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman who mainly plays as a bowler. He made his international debut in April 2009. Early life and career Hassan was born in 198 ...

, who helped bowl Oman out for 77. At the World Twenty20 Qualifier, Oman lost all seven of its group matches to finish bottom of Group B, but defeated

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in the 15th-place playoff. Lalcheta played in only five matches at the tournament – he was first included in the team for its second match, against

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, but after playing in the next match, against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, made no further appearances until towards the tournament's end, playing in the final two group matches against

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and then in the 15th-place playoff. Lalcheta bowled 17 overs at the tournament, taking four wickets at an average of 25.25. His best figures, 2/13 from four overs, came against

, and included the wickets of veterans

Gerrie Snyman Gerrie Snyman (born 30 April 1981) is a Namibian former cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He played five One Day Internationals in the Cricket Wo ...

and Nicolaas Scholtz. Only

(12 wickets),

Zeeshan Siddiqui Zeeshan Ahmed Siddiqui (born 22 July 1979) is a Pakistani-born cricketer who plays for the Oman national cricket team. He debuted for Oman at the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup The 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup was played from 27 October until 2 November 2007 i ...

(8), and Rajesh Ranpura (5) took more wickets for Oman at the tournament. Since the

, Lalcheta has featured regularly for Oman in ACC and ICC limited-overs tournaments, including the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 ACC Twenty20 Cup The 2015 ACC Twenty20 Cup was an international cricket tournament that was held between 25 and 30 January 2015 in the United Arab Emirates. Oman won the round-robin tournament and qualified for the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, along with Af ...

s, the

2014 ACC Premier League ACC Premier League, the three-tier tournament was evolved from the former two-tier ACC Trophy cricket competition. The 2014–15 season started with top tier tournament which was held in Malaysia in May. It gives Associate and Affiliate members ...

and the 2013 WCL Division Three and 2014 WCL Division Four tournaments. Notable performances have included 4/22 against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in the 2014 ACC Premier League, 5/20 against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in the 2014 WCL Division Four tournament, and a man-of-the-match 36 runs and 3/22 against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

in the 2015 ACC Twenty20 Cup. Lalcheta's 12 wickets in the 2014 WCL Division Four tournament were second only to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

's Sharul Nizam (16 wickets) overall. Against Denmark in that tournament, he ran out Shehzad Ahmed while he was backing up, providing one of the few instances of "

Mankading Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, in which the fielding team put down the wicket of a batter who is outside their ground, usually because they are trying to score a run. Run out is governed by Law 38 of the laws of cricket. If ...

" in an international competition.

International career

He made his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

debut for Oman against Hong Kong on 21 November 2015. He was named captain of

for

2016 ICC World Cricket League Division Five The 2016 ICC World Cricket League Division Five was an international cricket tournament that took place in Jersey during May 2016. It formed part of the 2012–18 cycle of the World Cricket League (WCL). The Jersey Cricket Board were awarded t ...

replacing Sultan Ahmed who captained them in

2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 International cricket tournament that was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edi ...

. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut for Oman in their three-match series against the United Arab Emirates in October 2016. In January 2018, he was named in Oman's squad for the

2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was a cricket tournament that took place in February 2018 in Namibia. The United Arab Emirates won the tournament, after beating Nepal by 7 runs in the final. Canada and Namibia finished third and fourth ...

tournament. In August 2018, he was named in Oman's squad for the

2018 Asia Cup Qualifier The 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was held in Malaysia from 29 August to 6 September 2018. The event served as the qualifier for the 2018 Asia Cup. The top two teams from the group stage met in the final, with the winner ...

tournament. In December 2018, he was named in Oman's team for the

2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup The 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup was the third edition of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup held in Karachi, Pakistan and Colombo, Sri Lanka. Eight teams participated in the tournament including five under-23 age level teams of Test nations and ...

. In July 2019, he was named in Oman's

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) squad for the

2019 Scotland Tri-Nation Series The 2019 Scotland Tri-Nation Series was the first round of the 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 cricket tournament and took place in Scotland in August 2019. It was a tri-nation series among Oman, Papua New Guinea and the Scotland cric ...

. He made his ODI debut for Oman, against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, on 18 August 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lalcheta, Ajay 1983 births Living people Indian cricketers Saurashtra cricketers Indian emigrants to Oman Indian expatriates in Oman Omani cricketers Oman One Day International cricketers 21st-century Omani sportsmen Oman Twenty20 International cricketers People from Porbandar Omani cricket captains