Opinion Small teams take big strides
Assams progress to their maiden final and Keralas first appearance in the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy is a confirmation that new talent from crickets backwaters have emerged from the shadows
Assams progress to their maiden final and Keralas first appearance in the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy is a confirmation that new talent from crickets backwaters have emerged from the shadows.
Assam have traditionally banked on the crutch of the professional cricketer,but this season three local boys are in the top-four wicket-takers list of the 50-over inter-state tournament. Also,Kamrup-born Sibsankar Arabinda Roy,22,was the teams highest run-getter and he also top-scored when they registered their first and only ever win over Mumbai,in the quarterfinals.
That famous victory will earn each player Rs 30,000 from the Assam Cricket Association. But the confidence gained is priceless,believes Abu Nechim Ahmed the medium-pacer from Guwahati who took over the captaincy reins for one-dayers from their professional player Dheeraj Jadhav.
Kerala too is increasingly looking beyond their poster boy Santhakumaran Sreesanth. They beat Punjab in the quarterfinals without fielding their mercurial medium-pacer,who was slapped a two-match ban by the match referee. The emergence of 21-year-old Sandeep Warrier (he picked up 24 wickets in five Ranji Trophy games in his rookie season),the rise of hard-hitting teenage wicketkeeper Sanju Samson (two Ranji Trophy tons) and Sachin Babys return to form (298 runs; 1×100,2×50 in the Vijay Hazare) means that Kerala has moved on from being a one-man team. These performances are not going unrewarded,with Samson and Baby bagging Indian Premier League contracts with the Rajasthan Royals.
Keralas breakthrough season shouldnt come as a complete surprise as they had beaten a full-strength Karnataka in the Buchi Babu Invitational (2-day,90 overs) and followed it with victories over Baroda and Saurashtra to reach the final. However,just like Assam,Kerala has also found it tougher to make rapid strides in the longer-format domestic tournaments. Both teams have largely played their cricket in the lower-level (Plate or Group C in Ranji Trophy) but the new crop of cricketers give them reason to hope for a brighter future.
(Nihal is an assistant editor,based in New Delhi)
nihal.koshie@expressindia.com
Share
