Shillong, Dec 28: Meghalaya’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign will begin on 11th January as they face Manipur in Chennai.
The Meghalaya Cricket Association announced its 15-member squad yesterday (when TSR was on holiday). The team will be led by captain Punit Bisht, with Ravi Teja as his deputy. The other guest player/professional, Sanjay Yadav, has also been retained for this constricted season of domestic cricket.
All the plate group matches will take place in Chennai.
Meghalaya played seven matches in the tournament last season, winning three and losing four. Although they didn’t win as many games as they would’ve liked, Meghalaya did have two noteworthy achievements – beating hosts and giants of the sport Mumbai by six wickets and having Abhay Negi smash the fastest half-century in the tournament’s history against Mizoram.
The Meghalaya team are currently undertaking a camp in Tura. The support staff and 15-member squad will then depart for Chennai on 2nd January with the three standby players returning to their respective homes.
This will be the first major cricket tournament in India since the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and will be a major test to see whether the country can safely conduct a tournament of this kind despite all the challenges.
Meghalaya squad:
Chengkam Sangma, Aditya Singhania, Abhay Negi, Lerry G Sangma, Akash Kumar Chaudhary, Dippu Sangma, Yogesh Tiwari, Rohit Shah, Anish Charak, Wanlambok Nongkhlaw, Kilco Marak, Shellingstar Thabah, Punit S Bisht, Sanjay Yadav, Ravi Teja
Standby players:
Shiva Sangma, Wellmanson Passah, Shaisngi Lyngdoh
Support staff:
Goutam Shome (coach), Surojit Biswas (physio), Himmat Singh (trainer), Aaron G Diengdoh (manager)
Meghalaya fixtures:
vs Manipur, 11th January
vs Mizoram, 13th January
vs Bihar, 15th January
vs Arunachal Pradesh, 17th January
vs Sikkim, 19th January
(Meghalaya Cricket Association file photo)
