Guwahati, July 15: The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) today put its seal of approval on the appointment of former Test captain Sunil Joshi as the coach for the state Ranji team in the ensuing season.
The ACA governing body meeting at Barsapara Cricket Stadium here today discussed several names before finalising Joshi for the job. Newly appointed spokesman Devajit Saikia said three names - that of Joshi, Sanath Kumar and K.P. Bhaskar Pillai - were discussed and they unanimously decided on Joshi.
"The three had submitted presentations yesterday and Joshi's two-hour presentation, which envisaged long term development of cricket in Assam, was very impressive. Besides, his profile was the best among the three applicants," Saikia said.
Joshi, who figured in Team India in 15 Tests and 69 One Day Internationals, had earlier coached Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy and later joined the Oman national team as spin bowling coach along with head coach Duleep Mendis for the T20 World Cup in India earlier this year.
Though Saikia refused to disclose the contract, sources said Joshi was engaged for Rs 25 lakh for the season. BCCI level III coach Sanath Kumar, who had been with the under-13 soccer team for the past two seasons, is stated to have quoted a higher amount and the ACA decided to go for a lower amount in view of the ongoing financial crisis in the association, the sources said.
Later in the day, Joshi was introduced to the players attending the summer fitness camp.
An employee of Canara Bank, Joshi was here recently to attend an official programme along with former Test captain Venkatapathy Raju and had called on ACA president Himanta Biswa Sarma during the daylong visit.
The meeting also constituted the selection committees for the season ahead with representation from Nagaon district in all the three in an apparent bid to appease the Nowgong Sports Association members of which has been fighting legal battles against the ACA for over a year.
The senior selection panel comprises Satyagopal Chakraborty, Dhruba Sabhapandit, K.K. Baruah and Niranjan Das while the junior committee consists of Pritam Konwar, Nabajyoti Mahan, Romit Paul and Sujoy Dutta Roy. The women's selection committee has Manoj Bhagawati, Rita Baidya, Rajni Basnet and Parashmoni Seleng.
In another appeasement initiative, the secretaries of Kokrajhar and Morigaon district units have been nominated as governing body members .
The Lower Assam zone has been promised compensation, since minister Rihon Daimary was representing them as vice-president.
BJP worker Mriganka Barman and former first class player Gautam Dutta were nominated as president to the governing body.
The meeting also constituted the technical committee with Saikia as the chairman and Sushanta Biswa Sarma, Kamakhya Saikia and Nasir Gul Khan as members. The panel will decide the coaches for the other teams as well as the outstation players for the Ranji team.
Former umpires' board secretary Abdul Khaleque, who was shown the door unceremoniously in the last general meeting, was appointed the internal auditor.
Other resolutions include revamp of the Assam Cricket Academy, introduction of a pre-season tournament and promotion of club cricket in the district level to strengthen the bench.
