Guwahati, Aug. 6: The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) today named the state squad for the Buchi Babu tournament to be held in Chennai from August 18 with Mumbai Indians pacer Abu Nechim Ahmed as the skipper.
The 15-member squad for the summer exposure tour includes as many as six new faces in former Kolkata Knight Riders player Hokaito Zhimomi, outstation professional J. Syed Mohammad, Sunzow Brahma, Jogeswar Bhumij, Amlanjyoti Baruah and Manoj Malo.
Rajdeep Das and Wasiqur Rahman are the wicketkeepers while last year’s Ranji stumper Kunal Saikia has been rested.
The squad will, however, miss the services of top order bat and part-time spinner Amit Sinha who is nursing a lower back injury.
The ACA is going to send him to Mumbai for treatment. The squad does not include off-spinner Arlen Konwar, who has cleared the inter-state transfer by the Railway Sports Promotion Board last week. “We have shot off a letter to the BCCI requesting it to allow us to field Konwar as a bona fide Assam player as he was originally our player and had played for Railways last season only to oblige his employer,” ACA secretary Bikash Baruah said, adding that a reply was expected “very shortly”.
If the BCCI does not allow him to be fielded as a bonafide Assam player, he will have to figure in the state squad as guest player and Assam’s quota of three professionals is already occupied by Dheeraj Jadhav, J. Syed Mohammad and Zhimomi.
Assam will open the Buchi Babu campaign with a two-dayer against Saurashtra on August 18 and 19 followed by a fixture against Tamil nadu President’s XI on August 21 and 22.
They will wind up the group league campaign against Vidarbha on August 24 and 25.
The quarter-finals are slated for August 27 and 28, the semi-finals on August 30 and 31 and the final on September 2 and 3.
The squad: Abu Nechim Ahmed (capt), Rajdeep Das (wk), Wasiqur Rahman (wk), Pallab Das, SS Roy, Sunzow Brahma, Tarjinder Singh, Parvez Aziz, Hokaito Zhimomi, J. Syed Mohammad, Arup Das, Jogeswar Bhumij, Amlanjyoti Baruah, Deepak Gohain and Manoj Malo. Manager: C. Langthasa, coaches Subhrajit Saikia and Subhadeep Ghosh, Physio: Prasenjit Bhattacharyya, trainer: Rakesh Gohil.
Standbys: Krishna Das, Abhay Yadav, Utpal Deka, Krishanu Mazumdar and Shyam Gurung.
