Bensiyon Morisbhai Songavkar is an Indian professional

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 has represented

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 ...

. He lives in

Rajkot, India Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of more ...

, and is Jewish.

Playing career

In 2008, Songavkar was included in a special

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

squad that played against India in a special match in honour of Israel's 60th anniversary. Songavkar was a suggested inclusion by then

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

secretary general, Niranjan Shah, after the

Israel Cricket Association Israel Cricket Association is the official Sport governing body, governing body of the sport of cricket in Israel. Israel Cricket Association is Israel's representative at the International Cricket Council. It is an associate member and has been a ...

requested names of

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish cricketers in India. A year later, Songavkar played for Team India which won a silver medal as he was selected player of the tournament for cricket at the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games (), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Poli ...

in Israel. He was Captain of Team India in cricket at the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games (), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games (), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world ...

.">"Mission Maccabiah: this year in Israel" - ''The Hindu''
/ref>

Footnotes

Living people Jewish Indian sportspeople Jewish cricketers Indian cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Saurashtra cricketers Maccabiah Games competitors for India Maccabiah Games medalists in cricket Maccabiah Games silver medalists for India Competitors at the 2009 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 2017 Maccabiah Games 1985 births Bene Israel {{India-cricket-bio-1980s-stub

Playing career

See also

Footnotes