Sanjay Bangar

The calm-looking Sanjay Bangar was known for his “never say die” spirit during his playing days. Bangar was an all-rounder who opened the innings with both bat and ball. He started playing for Railways, at 21, before donning the Indian jersey during 12 Tests and 15 ODIs. 

The all-rounder who made his First-Class debut back in the 1993-94 season, had to stay in the grind for seven years, before living the dream of representing the Men in Blue. Bangar debuted for India in the Mohali Test against England in 2001. And smashed his maiden century in his second Test to secure a spot. However, his gritty 68 set up a foundation for the Indian trio of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sourav Ganguly to score big runs in the Headingley Test. 

Bangar made his ODI debut against England at Chennai in 2002 and is remembered for his quickfire half-century against West Indies that helped India chase 325 with 14 balls remaining. Unfortunately, he couldn’t play much as the selectors didn’t select Bangar after 2004. 

He went back to the grind of domestic cricket to become a pillar for Railways and helped them become a force. The allrounder captained his side and in fact, led them to three domestic titles. Bangar retired from the game in 2012 after achieving the doubles of 6,000 runs and 200 wickets in both Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare. The allrounder also played for the Deccan Chargers in the inaugural edition of the IPL, before representing the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009.

After hanging up his boots, Bangar took coaching duty. He has been associated with franchises like Kochi Tuskers, King XI Punjab (Punjab Kings), and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Apart from serving as the batting coach of the national team from 2015 to 2019. 

(As of April 2021)