Growing pains - the present is about the future for North East Zone

Jehu Anderson is 25. He made his first-class debut for Mizoram in 2022, but this is the first time he has faced genuine swing and pace in his fledgling career.

Deepak Chahar was making the ball hoop around, as he does, and Khaleel Ahmed was banging them in short and into the body. One such delivery hit Anderson in the ribs. The angry red mark, Anderson joked, is like a "badge of honour" for having fought his way through a tough passage to make 64 in the second innings of that Duleep Trophy quarter-final.

The innings ensured North East Zone didn't lose outright; though a massive first-innings lead meant Central Zone were through to the semi-finals.

Anderson hit 11 fours and a six in his innings, while his captain, Rongsen Jonathan, hit 60. The two put on 110 for the fourth wicket, denying a potent attack of Chahar, Khaleel, Kuldeep Yadav and Harsh Dubey on the final day. "Getting blows like that from Khaleel is part of the mental challenge," Anderson said after the match.

Anderson was playing in rural England just two weeks ago - for Wellingborough Town Cricket Club. It's a stint that enriched him as a cricketer. Apart from playing matches on weekends, part of his responsibilities as an overseas professional involved helping the age-group players with their training and conducting one-on-one sessions for kids.

If the Duleep Trophy hadn't reverted to a zonal format, chances are Anderson, like many from the northeastern part of India, would have been starved of the opportunity to prove themselves on the big stage. So, when his opportunity came, Anderson had to return.

He faced eight balls from Khaleel in the first innings, but couldn't score a run. He hit two fours off him in the second innings. Off Kuldeep, he seemed tentative and edgy in the first innings, managing just one run off 16 deliveries. In the second, Anderson scored 27 off Kuldeep alone, including four fours and his only six.

"I told myself to play the ball and not the bowler," Anderson said of his experience of facing Kuldeep. "I take back lots of confidence. It was quite the challenge to face him and to play fearless cricket against them, which was quite nice."

Unlike Anderson, whose best years are perhaps ahead of him, Jonathan is at the sunset of his career. Having grown up in Bengaluru, he came through the ranks in junior cricket alongside the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey and KL Rahul. Then in 2017, Jonathan, now close to 39, returned to his roots in Nagaland after the northeastern states earned BCCI affiliation.

Jonathan is a journeyman, having played in Karnataka and for Railways before moving to Nagaland. For many in the set-up, he is captain-coach-mentor, and as several players vouch, an elder brother. Prior to the match, Jonathan's words to his players centred on showing fight, showing guts.

He asked them to feel the "privilege" of playing a quality team, like Central Zone.

"You have been watching them on TV, and [now] you are going to face them. So a lot of things played in our mind," Jonathan said. "Like, you have been a fan of [some of the players], and now you are getting to face them in a match.

"In [Ranji Trophy] Plate matches, we don't get this quality bowling. Nor in practice do we get this kind of speed from bowlers in the nets. We play at home at around 120kph [from pace bowlers], but suddenly we have to come and face 135kph-plus."

With the match reduced to a mere formality the moment Central Zone decided to bat again despite taking a 347-run first-innings lead, Jonathan was more interested in soaking up lessons from the middle.

"I spoke to Shubham Sharma when he was past his hundred in the second innings," Jonathan said. "I asked him, 'how do you go about your innings?' A very valuable point he gave me was 'when you let bowlers bowl more balls to you, there are more chances of getting out'. So he said 'try and go to the non-striker's end as quickly as possible', and concentrate more on singles and doubles."

For those from the northeast, every little opportunity is possibly the biggest. Ask Ankur Malik, the Sikkim legspinner, who may replay his wicket of Rajat Patidar over and over in his mind. Or Manipur seamer Bishworjit Konthoujam, who dismissed double-centurion Danish Malewar.

Konthoujam's first love was boxing - he was a gold medallist at a junior boxing championship in Arunachal Pradesh in 2014. But when a shoulder injury prevented him from continuing as a boxer, his interests wavered and he eventually chose cricket. Like Anderson, Konthoujam came back from a club cricket stint in the UK, with Tynemouth Cricket Club, to play in the Duleep Trophy.

"More than even my own development, my priority is to use this opportunity to create pathways for young cricketers in Manipur and throughout India," he said. "I want to support and mentor a new generation of cricketers, to get to my level, and to go beyond my level."

Over time, the bruise on Anderson's ribs will fade, Malik and Konthoujam's wickets may end up being mere footnotes on scorecards, but they will hope their performances spur belief and hope for cricketers from the northeast aspiring to make a career out of the game. All of them, Jonathan and the others, will be around to help with that process.