Pragyan Ojha: The Man Who Took 10 Wickets in His Last Test and Was Never Picked Again

He took 10 wickets in his last Test, won IPL titles, and shared historic moments with Tendulkar and Muralitharan — yet Pragyan Ojha’s international career ended abruptly. Now, he returns to Indian cricket as a selector.

Pragyan Ojha interesting facts (Image Source: Google)

One of the newly appointed, in the BCCI senior selection committee, is former cricketer Pragyan Ojha. He played 24 Tests, 18 ODIs, and 6 T20Is for India and claimed 144 wickets across formats. He was earlier in the IPL Governing Council.

In the recent past he was not much in the news. Even his cricket credentials are not discussed much although various oddities and specifics attached to his performances. He was a left-arm spinner and bridged between Anil Kumble’s sunset and the rise of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. By the time he’d played his 17th Test in 2012, he was into the top five of ICC’s Test bowling rankings.

He played his last Test in 2013 (it was Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell Test) against the West Indies in Mumbai and was 'man of the match.' His award-winning performance was overshadowed by the hype Sachin’s farewell created. He claimed 5 wickets in both the innings, conceding 40 and 49 runs respectively.

It’s not that, like Sachin, he had also announced his retirement. Astonishing fact is that after this grand performance he was never selected to play another Test. Only 12 bowlers have claimed 10 or more wickets in the last played Test: SF Barnes Eng 14-144, JJ Ferris Eng 13-91, CV Grimmett Aus 13-173, CS Marriott Eng 11-96, Rashid Khan Afg 11-160, AY Patel NZ 11-160, PP Ojha Ind 10-89, C Blythe Eng 10-104, Nauman Ali Pak 10-121, HV Hordern Aus 10-161, T Richardson Eng 10-204 and AR Caddick Eng 10-215.

Stranger Tendulkar-Ojha connections: Ojha received his Test cap from Tendulkar in November 2009; He played in Tendulkar's last Test. They were together when Mumbai Indians won the IPL in 2013. The final was Tendulkar’s last IPL match; Ojha and Tendulkar also won the 2013 Champions League T20 (CLT20) together for Mumbai Indians. The CLT20 Final 2013 was the last time Tendulkar played for Mumbai Indians.

There are various theories attached to Ojha’s non selection for any international match thereafter and the most acceptable version is suspicion on his bowling action. The doubt on the action was raised in 2014, and he was stopped to bowl by the ICC. Sunil Gavaskar openly supported this ban but saw this as a blessing in disguise as he was still young and could rectify his action. Within 22 days he remodelled his action, the ban was removed but he was never the same bowler and was thus out of favour.

‘I waited, but I slowly understood that I was way behind and it’s time to move on. What more can I expect? I have played for my country; I have 100 Test wickets – the fastest for a left-arm spinner for my country. Blaming and trying to talk ill, doesn’t solve your problem. Things were pretty good, but things which are not meant to be, are not meant to be,’ he said.

Ojha is linked with the last Test of one more legend. Muttiah Muralitharan needed eight wickets to complete his 800 wickets, in his last Test, at Galle in 2010 and Ojha ‘helped’ him in both the innings. In the second innings he was the last man out to give Murli his 800th wicket, which also earned him a rare distinction of claiming a wicket off his last ball in Test cricket.

Some more interesting facts about Pragyan Ojha:

*In IPL he holds a unique record. He represented two sides and was part of the trophy winning team for both: In 2009 with Deccan Chargers and in 2013 and 2015 with Mumbai Indians.

- He is an animal lover and active member of PETA and appeared as a caged tiger in one of their ads.

- His superstition: Always called his family before a match. 'Whenever I used to get on the team bus before a match, I would automatically call my mom, then my dad. Even if both were sitting together, I'd call them separately. Then I'd call my uncle, who was a cricketer and the one who inspired me to take up the game.'

- Claimed a wicket off his first ball in T20 internationals. He dismissed Shakib Al Hasan in 2009 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

- One of the few players whose Test record includes more wickets than runs scored (89 runs and 113 wickets).

- Played all 24 Tests in a single continent (took all 113 Test wickets in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) and this is a record for a player, playing his entire Test career in a single continent.

- He was the winner of the Purple Cap for most wickets in IPL 3.

- One of the few cricketers whose wife has a Doctorate (PhD) degree. Karabi Kailash was supposed to pursue further studies abroad but abandoned her plans in love affair with Pragyan. She had come to Hyderabad from Shillong for higher studies in microbiology, where she met Pragyan.