Paras Mhambrey

Paras Mhambrey, a right-arm medium pacer from Mumbai, made his international debut on India's tour of England in 1996 - the same tour on which Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad also made their first Test appearances. However, he was was unable to make the sort of impact made by the other three and his two Tests and two one-dayers on that tour were followed by a sole ODI against Bangladesh in 1998.

His domestic record was far more impressive. He debuted in the Ranji Trophy in 1993-94 with a bag of 30 wickets at 23.77 apiece and graduated to the India A side in the next season. Mhambrey's consistent performances with the ball - 284 wickets at 24.36 apiece - and his handy contributions lower down the order helped Mumbai to five Ranji Trophy wins during his career. He called it a day after leading the side to the last of those wins in 2002-03. Mhambrey then went on to complete his Level 3 coaching diploma from the National Cricket Academy. After two seasons coaching Maharashtra he took charge of Bengal, whom he led to the Ranji finals in each of his two seasons. He was appointed India A coach for the home series against South Africa in September 2007.

Cricinfo Staff (September 2007)