Mihir Diwakar to lead East Zone Academy team

Promising Bihar cricketer Mihir Diwakar will lead the 13-member East Zone Academy team for the NCA Inter-Academy cricket tournament to be held in Bangalore from June 28 to July 2.

Orissa's Niranjan Behera has been named vice-captain of the team which will open their campaign with a match against their South Zone counterparts on the inaugural day.

Six players from Bengal and four from Orissa have been selected in the team announced by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Altogether six teams will vie for honours in the tournament to be played on a group league basis. The teams will be divided into two groups and the group champions will meet in the final on July 2.

Former Indian cricketer Randhir Singh has been appointed coach-cummanager while Dr Vece Paes will accompany the team as fitness consultant.

The team: Mihir Diwakar (captain, Bihar), Niranjan Behera (vice captain, Orissa), Ritesh Jaiswal (wicket keeper, Bengal), Ajay Gorai (Bengal), Abhishek Chakraborty (Bengal), Subid Biswal (Orissa), Rakesh Mohanty (Orissa), Avik Choudhury (Bengal), Gaurav Sharma (Bengal), Saurav Sarkar (Bengal), Rajesh Banik (Tripura), Tushar Saha (Tripura), Vignesh Mohanty (Orissa).

Fixtures: June 28 : EZ academy vs SZ academy, NZ academy vs WZ academy, June 29 : EZ academy vs Combined team, WZ academy vs CZ academy, June 30 : SZ academy vs Combined team, NZ academy vs CZ academy. July 2 : final.