17 Interesting Facts about Sanjay Bangar: An astute thinker

17 Interesting Facts about Sanjay Bangar: An astute thinker: Sanjay Bangar has been around the cricketing camera for more than a decade now. A medium pacer who had amazing skills as a pure batsman as well, Bangar perhaps achieved a lot less than he was earmarked for. That though, didn’t stop him from excelling as a domestic player, where he scored tons of runs. He is famously remembered for his gutsy knock at Headingley in 2002 which helped India secure a comprehensive victory. Bangar is one of the few players to have completed all levels of international coaching structure and is a batting consultant with the Indian national team at the moment. On his 43^rd Birthday we look at

17 Interesting Facts about Sanjay Bangar: An astute thinker:

1. First class debut

Born in Maharashtra, on October 11 in 1972 Sanjay Bangar made his first-class debut with Railways at the age of 21. He used to open both batting and bowling at Railways and later went on to become one of their key members of the side.

2. One for the selectors

Bangar claimed five English wickets at Hyderabad in a three-day match while playing for the Board President’s XI in 1996. His bowling on an absolutely lifeless pitch was good enough to convince the selectors about his character and ability.

3. The road to Test debut

Having had a good amount of experience in the domestic circuit, Bangar was roped into India’s Test squad to play England in 2001, where he made his Test debut in the first Test at Mohali.

4. Straight into the Groove

In only his second test, he scored 100 not out against Zimbabwe at Nagpur batting at number 7.

5. Lucky Mascot

Barring his last two Tests in New Zealand, India didn’t lose any of the 12 Tests he featured in, even registering three rare overseas victories.

6. The attributes

Apart from being a sedate opening batsman, his uncanny ability to get the ball to swing late, even reverse-swing, made him an ideal choice for the much-needed all-rounder for the Indian team.

7. A Railways Man

Even though he was brought up in the grind of busy Bombay cricket, it was Railways that offered him a secure place. Ever since, he has been an integral part of the Railways team. He played a very crucial role in guiding Railways to the Ranji Trophy finals in 2001. The subsequent year Railways won the Ranji title defeating Baroda.

8. Commendable

Besides Vijay Hazare, Bangar is the only cricketer to have achieved a double of 6,000 runs and 200 wickets in the Ranji Trophy.

9. Truly outstanding

The most notable performance from Bangar with the bat in Tests is his gritty 68 opening the innings against England at Headingley in 2002. His knock provided the rest of the batsmen the platform to post a huge score and India went on to win by an innings.

10. Under Pressure

Playing against England in 2002 India were chasing a mammoth total in the 4th ODI at Ahmedabad. Walking in at No. 7, Bangar batted aggressively to score a fifty under pressure to help India pull off a thriller.

11. The start of IPL coaching

He was named as India-A coach, before becoming the batting coach of IPL side Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2010.

12. The dip in form

Bangar was named as part of India’s squad for the 2003 Cricket World Cup, but his performances for India began to tail off, and he made his final appearance for his country in 2004, appearing in 12 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals in all.

13. The IPL stint as a player

He represented Deccan Chargers in the IPL first season. He played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2009 IPL.

14. An avid writer 

An article by Sanjay Bangar was featured in the anthological biography named Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel released in 2012.

15. Career in numbers

Playing 12 Tests he made 470 runs and took 7 wickets. In ODIs his numbers were nothing off note. In first class cricket he was a prolific performer having made more than 8000 runs and picked up 300 wickets.

16. Leading Kings XI to the finals

In January 2014, Banger was named assistant coach of Kings XI Punjab ahead of IPL 2014. Later he was promoted to head coach during the season and coached them to final of season where they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders.

17. Current Role

Currently he is the batting consultant of the Indian cricket team and was appointed in the role after India’s dismal show in the Test series in England in 2014.