Subhranshu Senapati

Subhranshu was born in mineral-rich and tribal-dominated Kendujhar district of Odisha, went onto make his Ranji debut for Odisha in the 2016-17 season. It was the same season in which he also made his maiden appearance in all other formats in domestic cricket and proved to be a good addition in the Odisha batting line-up. He brought up his first fifty against Saurashtra in the second innings of the second game of the season which Odisha won by 32 runs and then played a brilliant 76-run knock against a strong Delhi bowling attack comprising of Ishant Sharma. His maiden first-class ton in domestic circuit came up when he scored 137 in the second innings against Rajasthan and ensured a draw by stitching a 200-plus stand with opener Ranjit Singh. He wasn’t that successful in the shorter formats in his debut season.

Subhranshu didn’t shift to bigger cities like Cuttack and Bhubaneswar after taking up serious cricket and continued to play in his home district Keonjhar. He didn’t go to a particular coaching institute or a cricket club. He credits his senior cricketers for developing his skills as a batsman. Pretty much like many youngsters in the current Odisha senior team, Subhranshu was also a member of the champion team of Odisha Premier League-2 (OPL-2) 'Chilika'. His success in OPL ensured a permanent place in the junior Odisha teams and after his good run in the under-19 side, he got a call from the senior selection committee to represent Odisha in KSCA Dr. (Capt.) K Thimmappiah Invitational Tournament. His knock of 179 against Himachal Pradesh in the KSCA invitational tourney, where he amassed 248 runs in three innings, earned him a place in the Ranji side and he played all the matches in his debut season and played a crucial role in taking the team into the quarter-finals. His 2017-2018 season was even better as he piled up 427 runs at an average of 53.37 in 8 innings. It was studded with 2 tons and a new face in the middle order for Odisha had finally cropped up.

CSK bought Senapati for INR 20 Lakh in the 2022 auction and is yet to make his debut for the franchise.

By Kumar Abhisekh Das