CHENNAI: One of the first things the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) did before the domestic season started was to take a firm decision. No outstation players or coaches. To promote local talent, hiring outstation players was stopped last year. In a continuation of that, they have gone in with an all-Assamese support staff this season. Despite being part of the domestic circuit for decades, Assam’s performance never really drew national attention. Even on Thursday, their Vijay Hazare campaign started on a disastrous note.
Forget India. Few of their players come into reckoning when it comes to selecting India A squads. Not many are real contenders for the zonal side either. This decade has been better, though, as they played the Ranji Trophy semifinals for the first time in 2015-16 and finished runners-up in Vijay Hazare in 2012-13. The ACA felt coaches from the state will have better knowledge of the pros and cons. Former captain Syed Zakariya Zuffri was appointed coach this season.
“We don’t have quality grounds for practice,” Zakariya said. “But the good thing is that our association is in the process of acquiring a few more grounds,” said Zakariya, who was the CEO of the Bangladesh Premier League in 2012 and 2013. Under the new coach, the team started its preparations with a tour to Sri Lanka in August. During their 15-day trip, they played five 50-over matches and three two-day games and won seven out of eight matches.
The 42-year-old coach believes this tour has increased confidence. “Once our season gets over, we get into a shell. Nobody will know where this team is. That is the reason we are not doing well at the domestic level. Hence, my first priority as coach was to take them outside India. “The main reason to tour Sri Lanka was to have exposure. The boys played against the likes of Tillakaratne Dilshan and a few other international players.
If they do well against them, it’s a big boost. One of the other positives was batting. We struggled to score big in the past and it was good to see our batsmen getting runs over there.” srinidhi@newindianexpress.com