Jharkhand Ranji Trophy: Dhanbad’s Manish Wardhan Appointed Jharkhand Senior Selection Committee Chairman

Dhanbad, Aug 10: Former Jharkhand Ranji Trophy captain and ace all-rounder Manish Wardhan has been appointed chairman of the state’s senior selection committee, becoming only the second person from Dhanbad to hold the post after Robin Mukherjee, who served in 1991–92 for unified Bihar. The announcement was made during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) in Ranchi.

Along with Wardhan’s appointment, Dhanbad’s Bala Shankar Jha and Manoj Kumar Singh were elected as members of the women’s team selection committee. Cricket officials described this as a proud moment for Dhanbad, marking a 33-year gap since a local cricketer held the top selection role.

Wardhan enjoyed an illustrious 13-year cricket career, playing 45 first-class matches and scoring around 3,000 runs, including five centuries and 15 half-centuries. His highest score, an unbeaten 179 against Saurashtra, is still regarded as one of the finest innings by a Jharkhand batsman. He made his Ranji debut in 2004 against Saurashtra at Rajkot and played his final match against Tripura in Dhanbad. In 2017, he captained the Jharkhand Ranji team.

Dhanbad Cricket Association president Manoj Kumar, secretary Binay Singh, and senior officials Uttam Biswas, Sadhvendra Singh, Javed Khan, Ravijit Singh Dang, Manoj Singh, Sunil Singh, and Mahesh Goiai extended their congratulations to Wardhan, Jha, and Singh on their achievement.