Parag Das: Opting out Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, May 16: Apparently hurt by the Assam Cricket Association’s (ACA) decision not to consider him for the senior team probables’ fitness camp beginning here on June 1, senior Ranji player Parag Kumar Das today announced his retirement from first class cricket.

This was disclosed by the ACA this evening. ACA secretary Bikash Baruah said Das has cited personal problems for quitting.

Though Das could not be contacted for comment, sources said the player felt that his fate in the Ranji team for the next season was uncertain, given the fact that he was not considered for the fitness camp. He had not been in the good books of the team management since the last Ranji season, when he was not used to his full potential, sources added.

The 30-year-old all-rounder, who made his first class debut for Assam against Karnataka in the 1993-94 season, scored 1,895 runs, including a ton and 15 half-centuries, and notched 36 from 42 matches.

Making his List-A tournament debut in 1994-95, he tallied 578 runs, including three 50s, from 32 matches. The right-arm medium pacer took 17 wickets in List-A meets.

Known for his powerful bat, Das represented the East Zone in Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy tournaments in 2002-03 and captained Assam in the 2003-04 Ranji Trophy season.

The ACA invited 35 senior state probables for the camp at Nehru Stadium. However, despite outstanding performances in senior inter-districts meets — Nuruddin Ahmed Trophy and Nurul Amin Trophy — Rajib Kalita of Guwahati and Dibrugarh bowlers Ankur Chakraborty and Prasanta Sonowal were not considered.

Secretary of the association Bikash Baruah said players like Kalita, Chakraborty and Sonowal stand a fair chance of making the cut to the main trials for the senior team if they are sent by their respective districts to another fitness camp for players from the district. The camp will be held at the NF Railway stadium in Maligaon here from June 5.

Although the camp will be mainly for under-19 and under-22 probables, the districts have been asked to send two players each. The association will invite some of the outstanding performers of the recently-concluded inter-district season and promising players to the senior fitness camp too, Baruah added.

Invited players: Parvez Aziz, Gokul Sharma, Abu Naschim Ahmed, Nishanta Bordoloi, Shiv Shankar Roy, Sujoy Tarafdar, Arlen Konwar, R.K. Yadav, Mrigen Talukdar, Chandan Rawat, Swarupam Purkayastha, Jason Lamare, Krishna Das, Tazinder Singh, Pritam Das, Kunal Saikia, Noor Alam Sheikh, Amzad Ali, Amit Sinha, Zakaria Zuffri, Pankaj Tamuli, Saurav Bhagawati, Souvik Das, Dhiraj Goswami, Bichitra Baruah, Bikram Chetry, Musarraf Hussain Laskar, Tauhid Ali Talukdar, Mukut Kalita, Situ Das, Prakash Bhagat, Ranjit Mali, Bhaskar Jyoti Barman, Bitop Mahanta and Rana Sharma.