Arminder Singh Oberoi, Vikram Chetri and Bichitra Baruah

Guwahati, Feb. 11: Wicketkeeper-batsman Arminder Singh Oberoi, paceman Arup Das and spinner Vikram Chetri have made the cut to the state senior team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy East Zone Limited-over Tournament to be held in Calcutta from February 15 to 23.

The team for the first two matches against Tripura and Bengal was announced today and comprises mostly young blood while outstation professional left-arm spinner Anand Katti, who was in the east zone team for the Duleep Trophy tournament, has been named a standby. “We are giving an opportunity to the younger generation, which has been quite impressive in the last couple of seasons. The selectors are confident that the youngsters will deliver the best,” said Assam Cricket Association secretary Bikash Baruah.

Ranji skipper Rashmi Ranjan Parida will be the skipper of the 15-member outfit.

The team also comprises 36-year-old Baroda professional and former international Jacob Martin as the seniormost player.

Barpeta lad Arup Das and Vikram Chetri of Lakhimpur were part of the state summer exposure tour in the last two seasons.

Guwahati lad Arminder Singh Oberoi has put up an impressive performance in the state under-19 team.

The inclusion of Oberoi and Amit Sinha along with Shiv Shankar Roy and Tarjinder in the team will also strengthen the top order, which had been quite fragile in the last Ranji Trophy season.

Tezpur teenager Diptesh Saha and Silchar spinner Prakash Bhagat have also been named among the five standbys. The other standbys are Gokul Sharma and Prasanta Sonowal.

Seasoned players Palash Jyoti Das, R.K. Yadav and Mrigen Talukdar have been rested.

Bichitra Baruah, a Nagaon spinner who has been one of the most successful bowlers in the ongoing senior inter-district tournament, having scalped 21 wickets in the elite group league, also missed the bus. He “could not deliver the desired performance in the trial matches” played during the selection camp here since January 27.

Gursharan Singh and Abdul Gaffar U. Zaman were retained as coach and manager respectively, while Jaspal Singh and Jeeth Devaiah will continue to be the physio and trainer respectively.

The team: Rashmi Ranjan Parida (capt), Kunal Saikia (wk), Jacob Martin, Deepak Sharma, Swarupam Purkayastha, Dhiraj Goswami, Krishna Das, Ranjit Mali, Tarjinder Singh, Shiv Shankar Roy, Amit Sinha, Arup das, Arlen Konwar, Arminder Singh Oberoi and Vikram Chetri.