Mukund Parmar. Picture by UB Photos

Ranji Trophy

Guwahati, Nov. 14: Hosts Assam will bank on the experience of coach Abdul Jabbar Khan — in his third innings as coach of a Ranji Trophy side — to guide them through the tough elite group campaign against Gujarat from tomorrow at the Nehru Stadium.

Appearing as confident as his Gujarat counterpart Anshuman Gaekwad, the new Assam coach said, “The boys are quite upbeat and raring to go. At this level, there will be no loose game.” He would name the main eleven tomorrow.

The wicket — expected to take slow turn from the third day — would suit the visitors who have spinners Timil Patel, Salil Yadav and Bhawin Patel.

Gaekwad’s deputy, Vijay Patel, said the visitors have been bolstered by the inclusion of captain and opener Mukund Parmar, who tormented Assam with his 247 along with Kirat Damani (103) when the two teams met in Ahmedabad last season.

Apart from coach Khan, three recruits from Tamil Nadu — spinner V. Raghuram, all-rounder R. Satish and batsman V. Saravanan —are likely to make their debut for Assam.

Parag Das will also launch his innings as captain for the hosts. Sukhwinder Singh, Arlen Konwar, Kiran Powar, Subhrajit Saikia, Syed Zakaria Zuffri and Gautam Dutta are certainties, but Rajkumar Mritunjoy Gohain may figure among the reserves if the three Tamil Nadu players make their debut.

U-19 players axed

Kunal Saikia, Utpal Medhi and Debankur Kalita have been dropped from Assam’s under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy team that take on Sikkim next week.