Pragyan Ojha picks up 3 wickets in an over on return to domestic cricket

Pragyan Ojha bowling for India back in 2012

Pragyan Ojha, who was banned from bowling late last year due to a suspect bowling action, made a stunning comeback to domestic cricket by picking up three wickets in his second over in a Ranji Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh on Friday.

Playing for Hyderabad, the left-arm spinner showed no rustiness and trapped Himachal opener Raghav Dhawan leg-before-wicket with the first delivery of his second over. He followed it with another wicket off the next delivery, by dismissing 37-year-old Rashmi Parida for a golden duck.

Ojha didn’t stop there and picked up another wicket in the same over, when he dismissed the next batsman Nikhil Gangta for a 4-ball duck. In all, the 28-year-old had picked up 3 wickets and conceded no runs in the over.

Just yesterday, Ojha was cleared to bowl in competitive cricket again after making adjustments to his bowling action and passing a test at the ICC-accredited testing centre in Chennai on January 30 successfully.

The Hyderabad spinner would be hopeful of making a return to the Indian Test team soon. His last match for the national team came in November 2013 against the West Indies in what was Sachin Tendulkar’s last international match. Surprisingly, he was never picked for India after that despite winning the Man of the Match award in the Test.

Ojha has picked up 113 wickets in 24 matches at an average of 30.26 for India in Test cricket.