Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Assam squad and team preview

Assam used to be a part of the East Zone until 2002-03.

As Ranji Trophy season 2015-16 is just about to kick off, it is time to have a look at the teams and its players and analyse how the teams can fare. Assam used to be a part of the East Zone until 2002-03; the players used to play for Bengal for some time before Assam broke away to form a separate team. Assam have not been a top-class team in the Ranji Trophy so far, but they did manage to finish at the top in their group division in 2006-07. Jharkhand in Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Dark horses capable of causing few upsets

Though they lost the semi-final to Orissa, they were impressive to reach the semi-final as they had not won a single First-Class game over the previous couple of seasons. In Ranji Trophy 2009-10 Assam finally entered the elite group of Ranji Trophy: they topped the group and also progressed to the Super League.Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Odisha squad and team preview

However, in the 2010-11, they finished at the bottom of the Super League table and were subsequently relegated to the Plate division. Assam’s best season came in 2012-13, when they finished runners-up in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. 2014-15 saw them topping their group in the Ranji Trophy, but lost in the quarter-final to the defending champions Karnataka. Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Services squad and team preview

Ranji Trophy 2015-16 schedule for Assam:

Assam vs Rajasthan (Group A): Oct 08 – Oct 11 (9.30am IST)

Odisha vs Assam (Group A): Oct 15 – Oct 18 (9.30am IST)

Vidarbha vs Assam (Group A): Oct 22 – Oct 25 (9.30am IST)

Haryana vs Assam (Group A): Nov 7 – Nov 10 (9.30am IST)

Assam vs Delhi (Group A): Nov 15 – Nov 18 (9.30am IST)

Maharashtra vs Assam (Group A): Nov 23 – Nov 26 (9.30am IST)

Assam vs Bengal (Group A): Dec 01 – Dec 04 (9.30am IST)

Squad: Gokul Sharma (c), Arun Karthik (vc), Abu Nechim, Amit Verma, Bikash Chetri, Arup Das, Krishna Das, Pritam Das, Pallavkumar Das, Rishav Das, Swarupam Purkayastha, Sibsankar Roy, Kunal Saikia (wk), Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad, Tarjinder Singh.

Key players:

Amit Verma: The Karnataka veteran is the most experienced player in the side. A bowling all-rounder, he has been extremely economical with 40 wickets from 48 games and an economy of 3.11. He also has  2,925 runs in 48 matches, with an average of 45.70 and a strike-rate of 47.58 along with 10 centuries and 10 half-centuries.

Abu Nechim: The youngster from Guwahati has risen to fame following his involvement in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Being a medium-fast bowler, Nechim has 138 wickets from 51 games at 31.51.

(Ayush Gupta is a reporter at CricketCountry. A passionate supporter of Manchester United, he idolises Roger Federer and is also a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) maniac. He can be followed on Twitter @Ayush24x7)

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