Naman Ojha, the wicketkeeper-batsman from Madhya Pradesh who played four matches for India across the three formats between 2010 and 2015, has quit the game at the age of 37, bringing the curtain down on a first-class career that started back in the 2000-01 season.
Ojha, a top-order batsman and wicketkeeper, played most of his domestic cricket for Madhya Pradesh, and made a mark with India A on the 2014 tour of Australia, when he scored three consecutive centuries, including a double-century, in the first-class games. That came after a prolific season in 2013-14, when he scored 835 runs in seven Ranji Trophy matches, and after the ‘A’ tour, Ojha got called up to the India Test side in England as a replacement for Wriddhiman Saha, the reserve wicketkeeper to MS Dhoni at the time.
Ojha didn’t get to play a Test on that tour, but remained on the radar of the selectors, and played his only Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August-September 2015, scoring useful runs (21 and 35) and effecting five dismissals. Overall in 146 first-class games, Ojha scored 9753 runs, with 22 centuries and 55 half-centuries, at an average of 41.67 to go with 471 dismissals. In List A cricket, he scored 4278 runs from 143 games, and in T20s, 2972 runs from 182 games.
He also played one ODI, in Harare against Sri Lanka in June 2010, when he opened the batting and was dismissed for 1. He played that game as a specialist batsman, with Dinesh Karthik keeping wickets. Ojha’s two T20I appearances came in back-to-back matches on India’s tour of Zimbabwe in mid-2010, in which he failed to impress, scoring 2 and 10 opening the innings.
Ojha, Madhya Pradesh’s captain following Devendra Bundela’s retirement in 2018, also had a successful run in the IPL. He played for the Delhi Daredevils (now the Delhi Capitals), the Rajasthan Royals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad since his maiden season in 2009, totaling 1554 runs in 113 matches at a strike rate of 118.35, hitting six half-centuries including a best of 94* for the Royals against the Chennai Super Kings in 2010.
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ESPN Sports Media Ltd.