Sikkim woman BCCI coach... Cricket laurels for Soccer land

Kikam Bhutia, the women's cricket coach from Sikkim

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, Apr 24, 2018, Gangtok: In the season of IPL, a cricket story from the land of football!

Kikam Bhutia from Sikkim has become the first woman from the Northeast to be appointed a member of the coaching staff of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)-conducted training camp.

Kikam, 29, who is a Level B certified coach, has been appointed the fielding and wicket-keeping coach for the under-19 (girls) training camp for Northeast and Bihar zone that began in Imphal, Manipur, on Monday.

Talking to The Telegraph over phone, Kikam said she was very excited to take up her assignment and was looking forward to not just train the budding girls, but in the process, also learn from other coaches at the camp.

"Twenty-five girls from the northeastern states and Bihar, including four from Sikkim, have been selected for the camp that will conclude on May 13. Apart from training the girls, I hope to learn from other coaches here and share the knowledge gained from them with our girls when I am back in Sikkim," she said.

This though is not the first coaching assignment for Kikam, who has also played for and coached Sikkim in various national-level tournaments.

She acquired the Level B certificate given by the National Cricket Academy in 2010.

"I have both played for and coached Sikkim teams. Our under-19 girls did well in the Northeast and Bihar zone tournament in Dhanbad last year," she said.

Kikam, who also holds an MBA degree, said she would continue to coach besides pursuing business interest. "I took to cricket at a very young age. I used to watch boys play in our neighbourhood (Tadong in Gangtok). Initially, the seniors were reluctant to let me play because of the hard cricket ball. Slowly, I started fielding and then batting and bowling," said the bowling all-rounder.

Sonam Palden Bhutia, the secretary of Sikkim Cricket Association, said it was a proud moment for the state to have Kikam coaching in a BCCI-conducted camp. "We are really proud of her. It is a wonderful opportunity for her. She is a very capable and hardworking girl. This is just the beginning for her, and she can look forward to a very bright future," he said.

Like Kikam, Bhutia is also Level B coach and had been a fielding and wicket-keeping coach at a BCCI-conducted camp back in 2009.