Sriranga Wasudev 'Ranga' Sohoni (5 March 1918 – 19 May 1993) was an Indian international cricketer. He was an all-rounder, who batted well under pressure and bowled relentlessly on South Asian surfaces.

International Cricket

Sohoni toured England in 1946 and Australia in 1947/48 with the Indian team. He opened the bowling against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the two Tests that he played on the former tour. At

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

the last wicket partnership of

Dattaram Hindlekar Dattaram Dharmaji Hindlekar (1 January 1909 – 30 March 1949) was a cricketer who kept wicket for India in Test cricket. Cricket career Hindlekar toured England in 1936 and 1946 as India's first-choice wicket-keeper. A right-handed bats ...

and Sohoni hung around for 13 minutes to avoid a defeat.

Domestic Cricket

From 108 First-Class matches that spanned close to three decades, Sohoni scored 4,307 runs at 28.17 with 8 hundreds. He also picked up 232 wickets at 32.96 with 11

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

s and 2 ten-wicket hauls. In Ranji Trophy, his numbers were exceptional (42 matches, 2,162 runs at 34.87, 139 wickets at 24.49). Unfortunately, most of his twenties were taken away by World War II, which saw very little cricket. Sohoni played for

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

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 ...

, and

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

in the

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 ...

. He won titles with the first two teams and lost the 1948–49 final with Baroda. He captained Bombay and Maharashtra in eleven Ranji matches and captained Bombay in their win in 1953–54. Sohoni played for the Bombay University side between 1938–39 and 1940–41 and captained them in the second of those years. He also appeared in one unofficial Test. In Ranji Trophy, his finest season was 1940–41 when he helped Maharashtra retain their title. Against Western India in the zonal final, he scored a career best 218* and put on 342* for the fourth wicket with Vijay Hazare, then an Indian record for any wicket. In the last innings of the final against

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, he hit 104 on a crumbling wicket. He scored 655 runs in the Ranji season, a new record, at an average of 131 and 808 in all first class matches with five hundreds.

Personal and professional life

Sohoni "was tall, fair skinned and light eyed" with "film star looks". He was offered a role in movies by V. Shantaram . He was a pro in Lancashire League with Lower House Club. He did B.A(Hons) and served in various government departments before retiring as a class I officer in the government of Maharashtra. His death was due to a heart attack.

References

* Obituary in Indian Cricket 1993 * Mihir Bose, ''A History of Indian Cricket'' * Richard Cashman, ''Patrons, Players and the Crowd''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sohoni, Ranga Indian cricketers 20th-century Indian sportsmen India Test cricketers Mumbai cricketers Baroda cricketers Maharashtra cricketers Hindus cricketers South Zone cricketers West Zone cricketers 1918 births 1993 deaths Cricketers from Rajasthan