Skipper Govinda Poddar is elated after Odisha beat Saurashtra in a close finish

After pulling off a close win against Saurashtra in the round 2 of Ranji Trophy 2016-17, Odisha captain Govinda Poddar was pleased that things panned out the way they had planned on the final day of the game. Needing 116 runs to win with 5 wickets in hand, Saurashtra added 51 runs before Lunch without losing a wicket only to get bowled out in a matter of 10 overs in the 2nd session.

Following their enthusiastic victory, Govinda told CricTracker, “In the first session itself, I was not panicking. None of our players were panicking. We were bowling really well. We stuck to basics and conceded as minimum as possible. We planned not to give away more than 60 runs in the 34-35 overs we bowl in the first session. Even though we didn’t pick wickets, we bowled 37 overs and gave away just 51 runs.”

He decided to take up the role of motivating his team to go for the win and give it their best shot. “I was motivating the boys that it is just matter of one wicket because it will change the whole scenario. We had the belief and in the mean time we got a breakthrough and rest was matter of time. Because Sagar and Vasavada were too defensive. They weren’t offering strokes so it was easy for us to set a good field and attack.”

Talking about Man of the match Suryakanth Pradhan’s performances, Govinda said: “He was just superb. I call him mad boy. I know that when he is not picking wickets, he is totally off. But when he picks up one wicket, he turns into a very different bowler. When we got the breakthrough, I went to him and told it is the right time for us. If we can’t do now, we can’t do ever. At the end of the day, whenever if you win such games, the moral of the team comes out.”

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Saurashtra surprisingly decided to bowl first, was the Odisha captain expecting this?, “Actually we were planning to bat first. But when they elected to bat, we got to know that Saurashtra read the pitch to be pacers den during their pre-match practice and since we had a good pace attack, they asked us to bat on winning the toss.”

Talking about grit shown by their young opener Sandeep Patnaik, who scored 123 in first innings of the game, he said, “Sandeep and Subhranshu have been superb so far in their debut season. When we played in KSCA tournament, I told them as an elder brother that it is matter two-three innings. They can match up to this level. It is similar as Under-19 but at the same time, you need to be dedicated and disciplined. We seniors in the team asked them not to take much pressure of Ranji Trophy and just play their natural game, which showed the results.”

Just like Sandeep, Subhranshu Senapati is a 19-year old who has come through his U19. Senapati scored an important 57 while batting at 5 in the 2nd innings.

Odisha next play Delhi in round 4 of the Ranji Trophy starting October 27.