Guwahati, Nov. 14: Utpal Medhi will lead Assam in the Cooch Behar Trophy beginning November 18. The Assam Cricket Association today named Medhi captain and Sumit Dutta coach of the 14-member under-19 squad that leaves for Himachal Pradesh tomorrow.
Assam?s chances rest on the young shoulders of top order batsmen Parvez Aziz, Tazindar Singh, Shiv Shankar Roy and wicketkeeper-batsman Rajdeep Das. In-form medium pacer Sujay Tarafdar and Prakash Bhagat will spearhead the bowling attack.
However, Assam will miss medium pacer Abu Naschim Ahmed in the first two ties. He will be doing national duty in the Afro-Asian Cup from November 19 to 27. All-rounder Swarupam Purkayastha, recovering from an infection, will also be missed.
Assam will begin against Rajasthan in a three-day tie at Una. Assam, pitted in the Elite Group B, must win full points from the lung-opener to have a fighting chance in a group that includes heavyweights Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and Bengal.
Assam?s second encounter is against Tamil Nadu at Dharamshala from November 28 to 30 followed by the Mumbai tie at the same venue from December 3 to 5. Assam?s last match in the group is versus Bengal at Dharmshala from December 8 to 10.
Ahmed, who impressed in his earlier national duty under-19 ODI home series against Australia in September and in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy inter-zonal meet in Calcutta, might have to leave the team again if his performance at Vizag warrants his selection as an under-19 World Cup probable.
The team: Utpal Medhi (capt), Shiv Shankar Roy, Tazindar Singh, Parvez Aziz, Sujay Tarafdar, Rajdeep Das (wk), Ritesh Kothari, Pritam Das, Prakash Bhagat, Abhitabh Paul, Mohmidul Hussain, Sanjeev Dutta, Biswajit Bhattacharjee and Monibikash Sharma. Coach: Sumit Dutta, Manager: C. Langthasa
