Niraj Rambhai Odedra (born 18 January 1975) is an Indian

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 ...

coach and former player. He was appointed head coach of

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 ...

in 2020 and additionally became coach of the

Bermuda national cricket team The Bermuda men's national cricket team represents the British overseas territory of Bermuda in international cricket. The team is organised by the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB), which became an associate member of the International Cricket Cou ...

in 2022. He previously played for Saurashtra as a right-arm

off spin Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to r ...

bowler.

Early life

Odedra was born on 18 January 1975 in

Porbandar Porbandar is a city and the headquarters of Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It was the former capital of the Porbandar State, Porbandar princely state. Porbandar and Chhaya, ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, India.

Playing career

Odedra played 26

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

matches and 22

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 ...

matches for

between 1998 and 2004. He took 80 first-class wickets including two ten-wicket hauls. Odedra also played for Chingford in the Essex Cricket League where he was the leading runscorer from 2004 to 2006.

Coaching career

In 2015, Odedra was appointed as Saurashtra's bowling and fielding coach. He was an assistant coach during the team's maiden title victory in the

2019–20 Ranji Trophy The 2019–20 Ranji Trophy was the 86th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India. It took place between December 2019 and March 2020. Chandigarh competed in the Ranji Trophy for the first time. Vidarbha wer ...

. In April 2020 he was appointed to succeed

Karsan Ghavri Karsan Devjibhai Ghavri () (born 28 February 1951) is an Indian former cricketer who played in 39 Test matches and 19 One Day Internationals from 1974 to 1981. He played in the 1975 and 1979 World Cups. He is one of very few Dalits Dali ...

as Saurashtra's head coach. In June 2022, Odedra was appointed coach of the

on a short-term contract, replacing interim coach Cal Waldron. His initial contract expired in September 2022, but he returned to oversee the team's preparation for the

2023 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier The 2023 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier was a cricket tournament that formed part of the qualification process for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odedra, Niraj 1975 births Living people Coaches of the Bermuda national cricket team Saurashtra cricketers Indian cricketers Indian cricket coaches Indian expatriates in Bermuda