Das in an India blazer at Lords during the 2000 World Cup in England

Guwahati, Sept. 10: Nineteen is the age to dream but Assam cricketer Palashjyoti Das has stopped dreaming.

The one-time India prospect has all but started preparing for life outside cricket, a game which meant the world to him till the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) decided to suspend him for preferring club cricket to attending the state under-25 trial in Mongoldoi early this year.

It is not that Das has lost the touch that saw him emerge as Asia’s best batsman in the under-15 Asian Cricket Council meet in Kuala Lumpur in 2000 with over 400 runs with two centuries in seven matches. He continued in a similar vein in the World Cup a month later, scoring 213 in four ties and compelling then junior coach Roger Binny to hail him as India material.

“Yes, it is true. I don’t see myself playing for Assam again. My family, too, feels it is time for me to look beyond cricket. At the moment I am assisting my brother in his silk store and concentrating on my studies. If I am recalled, it is okay. If not, I don’t have any complaint. Everytime I try to get on with the game, ignoring the past, something or the other crops up,” he said. It also explains the reason behind Assam’s failure to produce a Test or one-day cricketer despite making its Ranji Trophy debut against United Province on December 17, 1948.

After his almost epochal under-15 debut for India, the ACA sidelined him from the under-17 and under-19 teams in 2001 on the pretext that he has crossed the age limit. He made a challenging Ranji debut against Punjab in Mohali at age 16, only to be discarded next season for being unfit, that too after he had lasted coach Lalchand Rajput’s back-breaking selection trials.

This year, the ACA hammered in the final nail when it banned him for missing the under-25 trials — summarily rejecting his apology letter. There were several theories explaining his plight. He has been guillotined for his misdemeanour on and off the field and he might be a victim of the Guwahati Sports Association versus ACA cold war.

“Das was not handled properly. If there has been indiscretion it has to do with his age. It is a perfect case study of what is wrong with Assam cricket. Even now it is not too late. He could still be sent to the National Cricket Academy,” an ACA coach said.