Assam cricket has been the speak of India’s home cricket circles for the final couple of months. However, Assam’s semifinal end in 2022 Vijay Hazare Trophy, which concluded earlier this month, just isn’t their finest efficiency within the home one-day match. Their finest end within the meet got here a couple of decade in the past, when Assam had been crushed within the 2012-13 season remaining by home heavyweights Delhi within the coastal metropolis of Vishakhapatnam. Interestingly, that was Delhi’s maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy crown.
Then what’s the rationale behind Assam grabbing a variety of eyeballs today?
They have crushed groups like Karnataka, Delhi and Vidarbha, amongst others, en route the Vijay Hazare semis, and Maharashtra narrowly beat them by 12 runs within the semifinals. In the continued Ranji Trophy, they opened with a degree in opposition to Kerala however within the second recreation they fought their method again to take the first-innings lead in opposition to former champions Delhi for 3 factors.
For an off-the-cuff onlooker, it would come as an underdogs-punching-above-their-weight story. But if somebody with somewhat extra curiosity in home cricket takes a more in-depth look, there may be much more than what meets the eyes. For that, we should delve deeper into their success story.
Just a little research of the 2013 remaining scoreboard would throw a reputation within the Assam innings – Dheeraj Jadhav, a home stalwart from Maharashtra, who was taking part in for Assam as an expert then. Amol Muzumdar, S Sriram, Dheeraj and Sairaj Bahutule are a number of the well-known names to have represented Assam as skilled gamers through the years.
But the latest scoreboards of matches involving Assam is not going to provide you with any such names. Because there have been some modifications in construction — in addition to insurance policies — so far as Assam cricket is worried.
After becoming a member of Assam Cricket Association (ACA) because the secretary in January 2019, Devajit Saikia led the state governing physique to take selections and make some modifications which can be bearing fruit now. Now elected because the joint secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in October this 12 months, Saikia elaborated on the method which they began about 4 years in the past.
“Right after taking charge, we made some structural as well as policy changes. First is the changes in infrastructure and facilities. When we came in the association, there were only two-three proper turf wickets to play first-class matches in Assam. Now in these four years, we have undertaken 23 grounds for development and out of that, 15-16 grounds are ready now. Soil was brought from Odisha to prepare the tracks,” Saikia informed TOI from Guwahati.
“Secondly, we restructured the annual calendar. Earlier there was no proper club cricket under ACA and the few local meets which were being played used to take place simultaneously with the BCCI domestic calendar. And that clash of calendars made it difficult to select the right players to represent Assam in the BCCI meets.
“Now all the 42 district units are under ACA and there’s a pool of 7000-plus cricketers in various age groups whose data is in the system, proper structure is in place now. APCC (Assam Premier Cricket Championship) is huge now, we give huge amounts of prize money, about 1 crore in the club championships and everything is under ACA,” added Saikia.
“The local calendar starts from May and goes on for the entire summer, so a player gets at least 15-20-30 matches before the selection of probables for the first-class and List A squads. It helps the selectors as well, they are doing their job without any interference now. Earlier, they had to select based on past performances or reputation but now everything is streamlined, and simple things are put in place.
“The third major policy change is we have stopped taking professionals since 2019. Earlier, we were dependent on professionals but now there’s no outstation players in Assam team. There’s no relief for the local players that professionals will take the responsibility of scoring runs or taking wickets. You have to be responsible for your own fate. So this semifinal finish in Vijay Hazare is a greater achievement than the 2013 final finish,” Saikia identified.
When it involves the folks instantly concerned in making these modifications on the bottom, Saikia heaps praises on the present teaching staff, particularly head coach Trevor Gonsalves.
“Trevor has made a huge impact on the squad. He has changed the mindset of the players, he has been instrumental in this success. I must appreciate the roles of assistant coach Subhrajit Saikia, coach-cum-manager Salil Sinha (senior team), U-25 coach Vivek Jaisimha, Ajay Ratra and Stuart Binny in this journey of Assam cricket,” stated Saikia, who has been typically thought to be the person who modified Assam cricket within the final 4 years.
Ratra was in command of the Assam senior aspect since 2019 earlier than Gonsalves took cost this season. Binny was Ratra’s deputy for the 2021-22 season.
Subhrajit, in the meantime, was the top coach within the 2012-13 season and has been intently related to the Assam cricket staff in varied capacities all through, generally with the age-group groups in addition to the senior staff.
The core of the Assam squad has remained kind of identical over the previous few years, however that very same bunch has carried out as a staff to combat again from troublesome conditions to come back out winners. So, there have to be some psychological conditioning on prime of the performances with the bat or ball.
When it involves elevating the psychological toughness of the gamers, former India Under-19 and first-class pacer Gonsalves has definitely performed a serious function.
“I always say to my wards that character of a person can be known when he is down and out; not when you are going great guns. You have to do something extraordinary to be famous. People will notice your performance only if it’s against Delhi or Mumbai or Punjab or Karnataka. It has to be against the big names of domestic cricket no matter who are playing for them,” Gonsalves informed TOI.
“I have made it clear to them that don’t make your Vijay Hazare performance look like a fluke. Play the ball to its merit, hit it for four or six if it’s to be hit, defend it if it’s to be defended. Don’t think you are playing Ranji Trophy or Vijay Hazare or T20. Failure makes you, so don’t be afraid, be confident,” defined the previous Vidarbha coach.
Gonsalves gave a bit of his thoughts by declaring in opposition to Delhi simply after taking the first-innings lead. “Yes, that was a mental game. It gives you an advantage when your opponents think this way, that, ‘Look, they have declared against Delhi!’ You get the edge, the upper hand here by declaring the innings,” Gonsalves stated with a chuckle after the Delhi match.
With their efforts displaying outcomes, Assam search for increased reaches this season however there’s a larger dream to be realized.
With an Assam cricketer but to put on the India colors at senior degree, former ACA secretary and the chief architect of this latest success, Saikia, says, “We have full support of BCCI secretary Jay Shah who has played a big role in Assam’s success by offering all the help possible from the board’s end. However, our dream is to see one Assam player in senior India side as soon as possible. There are three-four notable performers – Riyan Parag is the frontrunner you may say, others are Rishav Das (batter), Mukhtar Hussain (left-arm medium pacer) and Rajjakuddin Ahmed (all-rounder). Though Rajjakuddin is out of squad now because of recent poor performances, all have made good progress.”
Then what’s the rationale behind Assam grabbing a variety of eyeballs today?
They have crushed groups like Karnataka, Delhi and Vidarbha, amongst others, en route the Vijay Hazare semis, and Maharashtra narrowly beat them by 12 runs within the semifinals. In the continued Ranji Trophy, they opened with a degree in opposition to Kerala however within the second recreation they fought their method again to take the first-innings lead in opposition to former champions Delhi for 3 factors.
For an off-the-cuff onlooker, it would come as an underdogs-punching-above-their-weight story. But if somebody with somewhat extra curiosity in home cricket takes a more in-depth look, there may be much more than what meets the eyes. For that, we should delve deeper into their success story.
Just a little research of the 2013 remaining scoreboard would throw a reputation within the Assam innings – Dheeraj Jadhav, a home stalwart from Maharashtra, who was taking part in for Assam as an expert then. Amol Muzumdar, S Sriram, Dheeraj and Sairaj Bahutule are a number of the well-known names to have represented Assam as skilled gamers through the years.
But the latest scoreboards of matches involving Assam is not going to provide you with any such names. Because there have been some modifications in construction — in addition to insurance policies — so far as Assam cricket is worried.
After becoming a member of Assam Cricket Association (ACA) because the secretary in January 2019, Devajit Saikia led the state governing physique to take selections and make some modifications which can be bearing fruit now. Now elected because the joint secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in October this 12 months, Saikia elaborated on the method which they began about 4 years in the past.
“Right after taking charge, we made some structural as well as policy changes. First is the changes in infrastructure and facilities. When we came in the association, there were only two-three proper turf wickets to play first-class matches in Assam. Now in these four years, we have undertaken 23 grounds for development and out of that, 15-16 grounds are ready now. Soil was brought from Odisha to prepare the tracks,” Saikia informed TOI from Guwahati.
“Secondly, we restructured the annual calendar. Earlier there was no proper club cricket under ACA and the few local meets which were being played used to take place simultaneously with the BCCI domestic calendar. And that clash of calendars made it difficult to select the right players to represent Assam in the BCCI meets.
“Now all the 42 district units are under ACA and there’s a pool of 7000-plus cricketers in various age groups whose data is in the system, proper structure is in place now. APCC (Assam Premier Cricket Championship) is huge now, we give huge amounts of prize money, about 1 crore in the club championships and everything is under ACA,” added Saikia.
“The local calendar starts from May and goes on for the entire summer, so a player gets at least 15-20-30 matches before the selection of probables for the first-class and List A squads. It helps the selectors as well, they are doing their job without any interference now. Earlier, they had to select based on past performances or reputation but now everything is streamlined, and simple things are put in place.
“The third major policy change is we have stopped taking professionals since 2019. Earlier, we were dependent on professionals but now there’s no outstation players in Assam team. There’s no relief for the local players that professionals will take the responsibility of scoring runs or taking wickets. You have to be responsible for your own fate. So this semifinal finish in Vijay Hazare is a greater achievement than the 2013 final finish,” Saikia identified.
When it involves the folks instantly concerned in making these modifications on the bottom, Saikia heaps praises on the present teaching staff, particularly head coach Trevor Gonsalves.
“Trevor has made a huge impact on the squad. He has changed the mindset of the players, he has been instrumental in this success. I must appreciate the roles of assistant coach Subhrajit Saikia, coach-cum-manager Salil Sinha (senior team), U-25 coach Vivek Jaisimha, Ajay Ratra and Stuart Binny in this journey of Assam cricket,” stated Saikia, who has been typically thought to be the person who modified Assam cricket within the final 4 years.
Ratra was in command of the Assam senior aspect since 2019 earlier than Gonsalves took cost this season. Binny was Ratra’s deputy for the 2021-22 season.
Subhrajit, in the meantime, was the top coach within the 2012-13 season and has been intently related to the Assam cricket staff in varied capacities all through, generally with the age-group groups in addition to the senior staff.
The core of the Assam squad has remained kind of identical over the previous few years, however that very same bunch has carried out as a staff to combat again from troublesome conditions to come back out winners. So, there have to be some psychological conditioning on prime of the performances with the bat or ball.
When it involves elevating the psychological toughness of the gamers, former India Under-19 and first-class pacer Gonsalves has definitely performed a serious function.
“I always say to my wards that character of a person can be known when he is down and out; not when you are going great guns. You have to do something extraordinary to be famous. People will notice your performance only if it’s against Delhi or Mumbai or Punjab or Karnataka. It has to be against the big names of domestic cricket no matter who are playing for them,” Gonsalves informed TOI.
“I have made it clear to them that don’t make your Vijay Hazare performance look like a fluke. Play the ball to its merit, hit it for four or six if it’s to be hit, defend it if it’s to be defended. Don’t think you are playing Ranji Trophy or Vijay Hazare or T20. Failure makes you, so don’t be afraid, be confident,” defined the previous Vidarbha coach.
Gonsalves gave a bit of his thoughts by declaring in opposition to Delhi simply after taking the first-innings lead. “Yes, that was a mental game. It gives you an advantage when your opponents think this way, that, ‘Look, they have declared against Delhi!’ You get the edge, the upper hand here by declaring the innings,” Gonsalves stated with a chuckle after the Delhi match.
With their efforts displaying outcomes, Assam search for increased reaches this season however there’s a larger dream to be realized.
With an Assam cricketer but to put on the India colors at senior degree, former ACA secretary and the chief architect of this latest success, Saikia, says, “We have full support of BCCI secretary Jay Shah who has played a big role in Assam’s success by offering all the help possible from the board’s end. However, our dream is to see one Assam player in senior India side as soon as possible. There are three-four notable performers – Riyan Parag is the frontrunner you may say, others are Rishav Das (batter), Mukhtar Hussain (left-arm medium pacer) and Rajjakuddin Ahmed (all-rounder). Though Rajjakuddin is out of squad now because of recent poor performances, all have made good progress.”