Shillong, Sep 13: “History in the making” was how one player put it today before the group photograph was taken and that it certainly is as the first Meghalaya team to take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy gathered here at the Meghalaya Cricket Association (MCA) Ground ahead of their departure for Gujarat tomorrow.
The final 15-member squad was announced by the MCA today, with Jason Lamare named as captain and Punit Singh Bisht, one of the three guest/professional players Meghalaya has signed, named as vice-captain.
The 2018-19 edition of the one-day tournament has been expanded to 37 teams, with Meghalaya and eight other teams placed in the Plate Group. Only the top side from this group will progress to the quarterfinals.
Lamare, as well as his cousin Mark Ingty, who is also in the squad, had previously played for Assam when the MCA was affiliated with the neighbouring state’s cricket association, but that came to an end 10 years ago.
“I’m very excited. It’s a dream for me to represent my state and compete with the rest of India. Definitely a second innings for me,” Lamare said. “There are some big teams, like Pondicherry, Bihar and Uttarakhand. With the North East teams I’m pretty sure that, with our side being very well-balanced, we are definitely going to be on top compared with the North East teams and I feel we’re definitely going to put up a good competition against the outside teams.”
Mukund G will coach the Meghalaya team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy and he said, “We need to back our team, back our strengths. It’s our aim to win the tournament and looking at our strength we are better than other North East teams.”
The final 15-member squad has been trimmed from the provisional 18 that was named by the MCA on 1st September. Besides Bisht it includes two other guest/professionals – Gurinder Singh, a 26-year-old Punjab native and left-arm spinner who previously played for Tripura in the Ranji Trophy, and Yogesh Nagar, a 28-year-old off-spinner who has played for Delhi and Delhi Daredevils. Bisht is a 32-year-old wicketkeeper who has played for Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi Daredevils.
Meghalaya Vijay Hazare squad:
Jason Lamare (C), Punit Singh Bisht (V-C, WK), Mark Ingty, Amiangshu Sen, Sylvester Mylliempdah, Gurinder Singh, Chengkam Sangma, Yogesh Nagar, Abhay Negi, Raj Biswa, Lakhan Singh, Bablu Passah, Wallambok Nongkhlaw, Dipu Sangma, Rajesh Tati (WK)
Officials – Mukund G (coach), Rakesh Gohil (trainer), Dr Vinod Kumar Jain (physio), Mawkordor Synrem (manager)
Meghalaya Vijay Hazare fixtures:
vs Mizoram, 20th September, Nadiad
vs Nagaland, 21st September, Nadiad
vs Arunachal Pradesh, 24th September, Anand
vs Bihar, 26th September, Vadodara
vs Uttarakhand, 30th September, Vadodara
vs Sikkim, 4th October, Anand
vs Manipur, 6th October, Vadodara
vs Puducherry, 8th October, Anand
(TSR photo)
