Pragyan Ojha seeks transfer to Hyderabad after two-season stint with Bengal

Kolkata: Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha on Wednesday said he’s seeking a transfer from Bengal after a two-season stint to return to his home team Hyderabad for the upcoming domestic season. [caption id=“attachment_2646246” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of Pragyan Ojha. PTI[/caption] Terming it a personal decision, the left-arm spinner said he’s written to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) seeking an NOC and also informed his decision to its president Sourav Ganguly personally. “I’m excited to return to my home side, we are back in Elite group and looking forward to do well by giving that extra bit as an experienced cricketer,” the 30-year-old told PTI from Hyderabad. “The target will definitely come into mind but at the moment I want to do well and even contribute with the bat and be one of the main members of the team. We have a few youngsters who have been doing well,” he said. Ojha last played a Test in 2013 in Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell match and took a 10-wicket match haul but only to be ignored by the selectors later on. With Hyderabad relegated to group C, he switched allegiance to Bengal in 2015-16 to get better chances of making a comeback and claimed 36 wickets from nine matches, their joint highest with pacer Ashok Dinda. But he had a lacklustre last season with 10 wickets from six matches as there were reports of discontent with him in the team. Ojha, however, was all praise for CAB. “It’s nothing to do with anything with CAB. I had a cordial relation with everyone. CAB always allowed me to play the kind of cricket I wanted. It’s important to have that space,” he said. “They never doubted my decision as far as cricket was concerned. I am especially thankful to Dada (Ganguly) and captain Manoj (Tiwary) who were backbone of me doing well for Bengal. (Coach) Sairaj Bahutule and Manoj always had the confidence in me and backed me,” he concluded.