Sourav Bhagawati attempts a square cut during the selection camp for the Assam Ranji team at Nehru stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Oct. 15: The Assam team for the under-19 limited overs Vinoo Mankad Trophy, to be held in Calcutta from October 20, was named today.

The under-19 team, announced this evening by Assam Cricket Association secretary Bikash Baruah, comprises four players who were part of the state under-17 team last season, besides a rookie pacer in Syed Sajidur Rahman of Hojai.

The team, to be led by Swarupam Purkayastha, has as many as nine Ranji probables.

In preparation for the upcoming assignment, the team will take on Ranji probables XI at the NF Railway stadium at Maligaon here tomorrow.

The match assumes significance because it will allow the selectors an opportunity to assess the form, fitness and readiness of the probables as well as that of the under-19 members who are in contention for a Ranji berth.

It will also give the under-19 team management a chance to finetune its game plan before leaving for Calcutta for the zonal leg of the meet.

The Ranji camp was bolstered by the arrival of outstation recruit Rashmi Ranjan Parida, who looked in good touch during his stint at the afternoon nets. Parida and Katti, the other recruit, are likely to figure in the Ranji probables XI along with Dhiraj Goswami, who returned today after attending a trial for Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad along with Krishna Das. Mrigen Talukdar, Arlen Konwar, Nishanta Bordoloi, Deepak Sharma and Mark Ingty are also likely to figure in the team.

BCCI junior national selector and Assam Cricket Academy head coach Rajesh Borah said Assam have a good chance to qualify from the zone as one of the two teams. “There are several Ranji probables in the team, besides a genuine pacer in Rahman, who attended an ACA camp last year. We have worked on him (Rahman) and he is really impressive. He could be our trump card on green tops,” Borah added. He further said the boys really need to perform and push their case as the national junior teams have several tours planned for the entire season.

The Assam team, which leave for Calcutta on October 18, play Tripura on October 20, Jharkhand on October 22, Orissa on October 24, Sikkim on October 26 and Bengal on October 28.

UNDER-19 TEAM:

S. Purkayastha (captain), Bikram Chetri (vice-captain), Rajdeep Das (wk), Sib Shankar Roy, Amit Sinha, Rishav Das, Diptesh Saha, Pallav Kumar Das, Krishna Das, Arup Das, Syed Sajidur Rahman, Bikram Chetri, Bikash Chetri, Arminder Singh Oberoi, Kangkan Das and Krishanu Das.

STANDBYES: Dayal Krishna Dutta, Samik Das, Danis Shymal, Ritupan Patowali and Tapash Das.

Manager: Sujoy Dutta Roy,

Coach: Abhijit Chatterjee

Physio: Kaustav Bharadwaj