Zuffri: New venture

Guwahati, June 24: Former state Ranji team skipper Syed Zakaria Zuffri last evening accepted the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) offer to join the six-member cricket committee and announced his formal retirement from first class cricket.

Zuffri, who was offered the post in the all-powerful panel for the state Ranji Trophy team in place of former player Devajit Saikia, submitted his letter of acceptance along with his decision to retire from first-class cricket to ACA secretary Bikash Baruah last evening.

Baruah said he had forwarded Zuffri’s retirement notice to the BCCI. “I hope the board will clear his dues at the earliest. Although it is not necessary for any member of the cricket committee to retire from first class cricket, it will help him function conveniently,” Baruah said.

When contacted by The Telegraph on his new assignment, Zuffri said: “I have just accepted the offer and I am yet to meet the other members in the committee. Once I sit with them, I will come to know what will be our functions and responsibilities. But I am hopeful it will be an enjoyable and successful venture to work in tandem with so many experienced people like Dipak Das, Manoj Bhagawati and others in the panel. I hope, there will be cooperation from all spheres in our initiatives.”

The cricket committee has been entrusted with total responsibility of the Assam Ranji team, which will be playing in the elite group this time.

According to Ranji Trophy groupings released by the BCCI today, Assam are with Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Baroda, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in Elite Group B. The group league will commence on November 1. The fixture is, however, yet to be released.

The committee, which had met for the first time on June 13, has started looking for outstation players for the state team.

Making his first class debut in 1992, Zuffri played for Assam and Indian Railways before he joined the breakaway Indian Cricket League in 2007 to turn out for the first champion team, Hyderabad Heroes. He was among the first batch of ICL players to be granted amnesty by the BCCI last year.

The wicketkeeper-batsman played 76 first class matches and scored 3,037 runs, including three 100s and 15 half centuries. He also accounted for 150 catches and 21 stumpings. The southpaw played his last first class match for Assam against Rajasthan at Udaipur in December 2005.

Though he has retired from first class cricket, Zuffri will continue to play for his employers NF Railway.

Asked if he would try his hand at coaching or umpiring, Zuffri said: “I am not thinking on those lines as of now.”