Ray of hope for Lakhimpur cricket!

Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI: They were considered an underdog right from the beginning of the championship. Before the title clash against the star-studded Kamrup, they had already stunned teams like NF Railway, Silchar and hosts Mangaldai. Finally, the golden run came to an end with the batting failure against some disciplined bowling in the final yesterday. No doubt they have beaten finalist, but Team Lakhimpur won heart at Mangaldai by their all-round performance in the 11th Veteran Inter-District and Inter-Institution Cricket Championship.

Lakhimpur never wins one single game in the past in this tournament. As the Inter District tournaments are at sight, this success will definitely bring some boost to the young guns.

Expressing his pleasure the General Secretary of Lakhimpur Cricket Association Surjit Choudhury said, “The boys love cricket, showed their talents and successfully beat these big teams. We have 4-5 players who never played any district level match before. But they became too hot for the state or district level players at Mangaldai. Especially our bowlers did an excellent job. Their speed, as well as spin, stunned the heavyweights.”

“We selected the boys on the basis of performance in the local League at Lakhimpur. They were very confident despite the bad record in the past. Big players were around them in the ground, but they never aware of that, only concentrated on their own performance,” he added.

Nityananda Chetia, captain of the team, said, “This performance will give confidence to the young players who are preparing for the upcoming Inter-District competitions. If the veteran team can beat big guns like NFR, then why they can’t ! ”

About the team preparation, he said, “Normally we all are busy in our own fields, but somehow managed time for the tournament. It was postponed twice due to bad weather, so we had to travel more...but our boys were determined. We are happy with the result. Also, we enjoyed some memorable times together.”

Secretary of Veteran Cricket Association of Assam Nasir Gul Khan congratulated the team for this performances and wished for the futures seasons.

It will be interesting to see how the youngsters of Lakhimpur react in the upcoming season after the inspired performance by the seniors.

Also read: Local Sports