Two young heroes from an unlikely place

There are certain nerve centres in Indian cricket - Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and so on. When a cricketer emerges from these cities, he attracts some attention but there is no great surprise for these are the cradles of Indian cricket. But when a cricketer emerges from places like Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Kerala or Uttar Pradesh they attract a great deal of attention. For these states are not traditionally known for their cricketing prowess. So it has been that a Gopal Sharma or Debasish Mohanty or Randhir Singh attracts more than usual interest. And these days garnering a lot of interest are two cricketers from Assam which has been anything but a force to reckon with in the Ranji Trophy.

Palash Jyoti Das. Mrigen Talukdar. These are the two names doing the rounds prominently in cricket circles these days. No, they are not members of the Indian team. But yes, they are members of the Indian-15 team which recently won the Asian Cricket Council under-15 tournament in Malaysia. Das was adjudged the best batsman in the competition while Talukdar emerged as the best bowler.

Just the other day, the two were given the VIP treatment when they were accorded a warm welcome at Guwahati airport. Newspaper editors sent their leading reporters to interview them. When the two alighted from the aircraft, the police had a tough time controlling the fans and the media. Since then of course the two have been chosen as members of the Indian team which will take part in the World under-15 tournament in England starting from July 30.

Palash scored two unbeaten hundreds in the tournament and had the highest aggregate in the tournament with 317 runs. Mrigen had a haul of 13 wickets in the competition. Both earned handsome praise from the coach, former Test player Roger Binny.

This is the first time that Assam boys have made a mark in international cricket. So far juniors from the north eastern state have done well in football, table tennis, badminton and swimming. ``Palash and Mrigen have made the state proud,'' said Assam Cricket Association vice president Kamala Kalita. ``They have performed so well despite the limited facilities available in the state and I hope they will make it to first class cricket very soon,'' he said. Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who is also the ACA president, sent them congratulatory messages.

Both Mrigen and Palash received their early training at the Guwahati Cricket Coaching Centre run by Md Nawab Ali, who has not only been a prominent player but has also been keeping up the momentum by training hundreds of young boys regularly. Says Rajesh Bora, who was a member of the Indian junior side not too long ago, ``Several of our boys have the talent in them not only to play first class cricket but also to find a berth in the Indian team. Lack of exposure is the main hurdle.''

Now that Mrigen and Palash have attracted so much attention, their contribution could make a turning point in the game in Assam. And who knows? Perhaps soon the Indian selectors could be including a player or two from the state in the national senior squad.