Sikkim’s cricket carnival is all set to reach a crescendo this weekend with the finals of both women’s and men’s tournaments, which are being organised for the first time by the Sikkim Cricket Association (SiCA), slated for Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at the recently-developed Sikkim Cricket Ground (SCG) near Rangpo.
While the final of the Khangchendzonga Shield T20 for women will be played between Mount Pandim and Mount Karbu, Black Eagle (Sikkim Armed Police) will take on Alpine Sporting Club in the summit clash of the men’s event.
In the second semifinal played on Thursday, Alpine SC trounced GDCWA (West) by a whopping 117 runs, thanks to a captain’s innings of 78 in 77 balls by Nilesh Lamichaney, Batting first, Alpine scored 177 for 10 in their allotted 30 overs, and decimated the hapless GDCWA for a meagre 60 runs in 21.4 overs.
In Wednesday’s first semi-final, Black Eagle had defeated Jorethang Brothers Cricket Club by 77 runs. Riding Man-of-the-Match Mandup Bhutia’s swashbuckling knock of 51 runs off just 28 balls, the Eagle’s scored 183 runs in their 30 overs and then restricted their opponent to a 106, thanks to three-wicket hauls each by Ravi Ranjan and Palzor Tamang.
The twin tournaments are the first being organised by SiCA, which was granted full membership of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2018. Both the finals will be played at SCG, about 40km from Gangtok, which is the Himalayan state’s recently developed only cricket-dedicated stadium.
SiCA has drawn up an ambitious plan to spread cricket in every nook and cranny of the state, which is known more for its football. “We have formed committees at the district level. We now have coaches in every district. We have plans to start academies at the grassroots level before setting a central academy at SCG,” said Lobzang G. Tenzing, the SiCA president.
Apart from hosting the two tournaments, SiCA also held a three-day Level-O coaching course at the SCG from November 11 to 13. The course, which was attended by 21 participants, was conducted by the BCCI-certified high performance coach Atul Gaikwad.
“The course was organised with the purpose of spreading cricket in all the four districts. Mr Gaikwad was very impressed by the enthusiasm of the participants who came from different parts of the state,” said Karma Sonam Lhendup, the joint secretary of SiCA.
Samir Subba, a part-time player and an avid cricket aficionado, said this was the beginning of Sikkim’s cricket story. “After gaining full membership of BCCI in 2018, cricket has been on an upward curve in the state. The ambitious plans of SiCA augur very well for the sport. We already have the first local player in Nilesh Lamichaney to score a List A century, and then we have Kikam Bhutia, the first woman from the north-east to be a part of BCCI’s coaching set up,” he said.