Hrishikesh Kanitkar is an Indian cricket coach and former professional cricketer who had represented his country primarily in the longer formats of the sport (2 Tests and 34 ODIs), between December 1997 and January 2000, as a batting all-rounder. In the Indian domestic circuit, he had played for his home state team of Maharashtra (1994–2007), Madhya Pradesh (2008-2009), and Rajasthan (2010-2015). He had captained Rajasthan to successive Ranji Trophy (the premier domestic first-class cricket competition in India) titles in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, the team’s first such titles. In July 2015, he had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after nearly 2 decades of involvement with domestic cricket. Post-retirement, he has worked as a cricket coach and has had stints, as a head coach, with Goa (2015–16) and Tamil Nadu (2016-2019) in domestic cricket. He was the head coach of the Indian Under-19 squad that had clinched the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in February 2022, for the 5th time, after victorious campaigns in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2018.

Born Name

Hrishikesh Hemant Kanitkar

Nick Name

Hrishikesh

Sun Sign

Scorpio

Born Place

Pune, Maharashtra, India

Residence

Pune, Maharashtra, India

Nationality

Occupation

Cricket Coach, Professional Cricketer (Retired)

Family

• Father – Hemant Kanitkar (Former Test Cricketer) (d. June 9, 2015)
• Siblings – Aditya Kanitkar (Brother) (Golfer)
• Others – Radhika Tulpule (Sister-in-Law) (Former Tennis Player)

Batting

Left-Handed

Bowling

Right-Arm Off-Break

Role

Batting All-Rounder

Jersey Number

14 – One Day International (ODI)

Build

Athletic

Height

5 ft 11 in or 180.5 cm

Weight

81 kg or 178.5 lbs

Race / Ethnicity

Asian (Indian)

Hair Color

Black

Eye Color

Dark Brown

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Toned physique
• Receding hairline
• Affable smile
• Clean-shaven look

Hrishikesh Kanitkar Facts

1. The crowning moment of Hrishikesh’s short-lived international career came in January 1998 when India had won the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup, a trilateral series between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, that was held as a celebration of 25 years of Bangladesh’s independence. India had defeated both Bangladesh and Pakistan in the group stage of the tournament to set up a best-of-3 final against Pakistan where India had won the first match and Pakistan the 2nd.
2. In the deciding match (which had been reduced to 48 overs-per-side due to bad light) of the tournament, coincidentally the only day-night match of the tournament, Pakistan had put up a mammoth score of 314 runs. Hrishikesh had come in to bat when India’s score was 281/5 in the 44th over. Although he did not score too many runs, he had stayed put at one end and, in fading light, had hit a four when 3 runs were required off the last 2 balls of the match. India’s effort had set the then world record for the highest successful run chase in ODI cricket.
3. The only ‘Player of the Match’ performance of his international career came in April 1998 in an ODI match against Zimbabwe. He had scored 35 runs off 31 balls to help India win a tight game by 13 runs.
4. In December 2012, he had become only the 27th cricketer to have played 100 Ranji Trophy matches.
5. When he had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in July 2015, he was one of only 3 batsmen to have scored more than 8,000 runs in the history of the Ranji Trophy. He was, then, also the only captain in the tournament’s history to have lifted both the Elite and the Plate league titles.

Featured Image by Hrishikesh Kanitkar / Instagram

Source: This post first appeared on https://healthyceleb.com/