Anshuman Rath, Ex-Hong Kong Captain To Play For Odisha In Upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy

Anshuman Rath, the former Hong Kong international cricket team captain will be part of the Odisha team which will participate in the upcoming domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy starting next month. The tournament will begin on November 4 and is scheduled to complete on November 22.

Three years back, Anshuman Rath had captained Hong Kong in the 2018 Asia Cup in UAE and played an amazing innings against India in one of the league matches, giving quite a scare to the Rohit Sharma-led team with a terrific opening partnership chasing a decently big total.

Hong Kong was asked to chase 286 runs and Anshuman put on 174 runs for the opening wicket with Nizakat Khan as a great upset was on the cards. Rath scored 73 off 97 deliveries in that game. Indian bowlers came to the party and helped the Men in Blue achieve a 26-run win in a closely fought game.

However, he decided to give up his international career with the Asian minnows in 2019 in hopes of playing Test cricket for India and qualified to play domestic cricket after the mandatory cooling-off period. He can play for India because he holds an Indian passport as his parents belong to Odisha.

Anshuman Rath Named In Odisha Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy Squad

The 23-year-old left-hand top-order batter will be playing for Odisha in India’s upcoming 2021-22 domestic season. He played 18 ODIs and 20 T20Is for Hong Kong. Anshuman has scored 828 runs in ODIs, including a century, seven fifties, and has also taken 14 wickets. In T20Is, he has slammed 321 runs and taken five wickets.

He was handed his Odisha jersey on Thursday, and Rath posted a beautiful post on his Instagram account.

He captioned the post: “4 years and 6 months… it’s been a tough journey to say the least and would like to thank all the people who stuck by me during this difficult period. Would like to thank @cricketodisha for giving me an opportunity when others wouldn’t and can’t wait to get out there and do what I do best. No looking back now. We go up from here.”

Here is the post:

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