Shillong, Sep 26: Kishan Lyngdoh (pictured right) will captain Meghalaya once again, leading them in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25, the Meghalaya Cricket Association announced today. Dippu Sangma (left) will act as his deputy.
The MCA also revealed the names of its three guest professional players for the 2024-25 season.
Meghalaya have qualified for an Elite Group this season after their phenomenal run in the Plate Group in 2023-24, where they were the runners-up to Hyderabad.
On 17th September the MCA announced a 12-member squad of Meghalaya domiciled players for the first two Ranji Trophy matches along with five standbys. The three guest professional slots were yet to be announced and the MCA has done that today. Meghalaya’s first Ranji match will be against Services away from 11th to 14th October before they return home to face Tripura from 18th to 21st October in Shillong.
The three guest players are meant to shore up the batting department and have a range of cricketing experience behind them. Ajay Duhan has played his cricket in Haryana up to this point, while wicketkeeper-batter Sumit Kumar has played for Jharkhand, Bihar and most recently Nagaland as a guest player. Anirudh B, meanwhile, has represented both Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad. Both Sumit and Anirudh have first-class cricket experience behind them and the MCA is expecting them to contribute strongly to the Meghalaya team effort.
2023-24 was hugely successful for Kishan as he racked up 695 runs in seven matches with the first double century for a Meghalaya domiciled player in first-class cricket. The ever reliable Dippu, a pace bowler, delivered 17 wickets and has also wielded the bat successfully for Meghalaya ever since making his debut in 2018.
Meghalaya Ranji Trophy squad (first two matches): Aryan Borah, Akash Kumar Choudhary, Arpit Bhatewara, Bamanbha Shangpliang, Bijon Dey, Chengkam Sangma, Dippu Sangma (V-C), Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva, Kishan Lyngdoh (C), Ram Gurung, Roshan Warbah, Swarajeet Das, Ajay Duhan, Sumit Kumar, Anirudh B
Standbys: Adarsh Joshi, Anish Charak, Lerry G Sangma, Shembhalang Pyngrope, Yogesh Tiwari
Support staff: Prabhakar Bairgond (head coach), Moisten Ch Marak (assistant coach), Surojit Biswas (physio), Vikash Singh Chauhan (trainer), Dister Marbaniang (manager)
(File photo)