The Guwahati team on the eve of the final in Guwahati on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos

NURUL AMIN TROPHY

Guwahati, Sept. 22: A battle of nerves is on the cards when defending champions Guwahati meet NF Railway in the Nurul Amin Trophy cricket three-day final at Nehru Stadium here from tomorrow.

The flagship event of the Assam Cricket Association will not only determine the champion of champions in the state, but also serve as an unofficial selection trial for some of the youngsters to make into the Ranji Trophy squad. There are a handful of young talents in both sides waiting to break into the senior line-up, especially Pervez Aziz, Chandan Raut, Shiv Sankar Roy, Bitop Mahanta, Bhaskar Jyoti Barman, Nipon Saikia and Gyan Prakash.

The Guwahati pace attack moved a pace up with the return of Gautam Dutta, the state?s highest Ranji Trophy wicket-taker, after a six-year hiatus from Sivasagar.

The seasoned seamer will chip in for mainstay bowler Utpal Medhi, who opted out of the tournament because of the demise of his father on Sunday.

NF Railway will, however, have a stronger spin attack with right-arm spinner Arlen Konwar back in the squad after recuperating from illness.

The railway side has learnt from their semi-final victory over Nagaon yesterday that the Nehru Stadium wicket will help the turners. ?Since the wicket favours the spinners, we will have to depend on Gyan Prakash and Arlen,? skipper Parag Das said.

Prakash is in peak form as he hauled seven for 70 in the Nagaon first innings on Monday. Medium-pacer Abu Naschim Ahmed, however, will be out of the playing eleven because of a calf muscle tear.

Das said there might be one more change in the team that played in the semi-final.

?Apart from the seniors, including myself, Subhadeep (Ghosh) and Zakaria (Zuffri), we can bank on youngsters Pervez Aziz and Chandan Raut who have come good with the bat,? the skipper said when asked about his batsmen.

Aziz, the lone centurion of the second semi-final, and Raut hogged the limelight with solid performances yesterday.

On opponents Guwahati, he said: ?They have a very strong batting line-up as well as bowling attack. Gautam (Dutta) and spinner Bitop Mahanta are strong additions to their team. Besides, they have left-arm spinner Bhaskar Jyoti Barman.?

Guwahati skipper Subrajit Saikia, too, felt that the railway side would pose a strong challenge to their title defence.

However, the captain expected that his young brigade would come up triumphs.

?We have a very balanced side of youngsters. Barring Gautam Dutta, Sajjad Hussain and myself, the rest of the team is young and energetic. I hope they will give their best.?

?In batting, I expect Sajjad, Palash Jyoti Das and Shib Shankar Roy to lead from the front. And in bowling, we got a shot in the arm with Gautam returning to our side. Besides, there are Bitop Mahanta, Bhaskar and the young paceman Nipon Saikia,? the captain said.

Saikia said the recent three-day trials ?helped us improve the team co-ordination?.

The toss will play a crucial role in the Nehru Stadium wicket that turns hostile in the later part of the day.