Assam: Cricket’s forgotten state

Palash Jyoti Das and Mrigen Talukdar, both 22, were India’s under-15 stars in 2000. The duo helped India win the Asian Cricket Council under-15 tournament in Malaysia with Palash adjudged the best batsman (317 runs including two hundreds) of the tournament and Mrigen (13 wickets) the best bowler. Seven years down the road, they should have been at their peak. And yet, they are warming the bench for the Assam team. So where did things go wrong?

“I had a back injury which affected my career,” says Palash, who made his first class debut in 2001-02 and has only played a match since. “I am trying hard,” says Mrigen, who has played eight matches, taking 10 wickets since making his debut in 2002-03.

“Lack of guidance,” as Assam coach Sanath Kumar, into his third season with the team, puts it. “Drinking and tobacco are huge problems among the youth of Assam. Those issues have to be tackled,” he adds.

Kumar, who played Ranji Trophy for Karnataka from 1985-91, points out other shortcomings. “The mindset of people has to change. They have to be ready to work hard. Boys here only practise during the season. They have to practise in the off-season too. But things are improving,” says Kumar.

Former Ranji player Malay Das adds: “The climate doesn’t help either. It keeps raining for six months. Besides, it is a middle-class state, so the parents want their kids to get a job rather than play. And there is no one in Assam who has influence in the BCCI,” says Das.

Thirty-one-year-old Mark Ingty is another interesting case. As a source reveals, “the pacer has become a victim of the shoddy, inconsistent, selection policy in Assam.”

Ingty burst onto the scene by making a memorable Duleep Trophy debut claiming seven wickets in a match for East Zone in 2002. In the next Ranji season, he took 24 wickets for Assam from 10 matches. But now, he is occupying the reserves bench.

The players’ lack of faith in the system was also evident from the fact that three promising players from the state—Abu Nechim, Pritam Das and Sujay Tarafdar —joined ICL. “All three had the potential to don national colours. They were misguided. They probably couldn’t resist the temptation of big money,” says Kumar.