Sikkim gets outside cricketers

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, 23 Oct 2018, Gangtok: The Sikkim Cricket Association has roped in three professional players from outside the state for the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season in which the Himalayan state will participate for the first time.

The three players are Bipul Sharma from Punjab, Milind Kumar from Delhi and Ishwar Chaudhary from Gujarat. "The SCA decided to hire the three players as per the norms of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which allows a team to have three professional players in the playing eleven," said Roshan Prasad, the SCA spokesman.

Sharma is an all-rounder who bowls slow left-arm orthodox. He has played for India-A, North Zone, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh Lions, Kings XI Punjab. He was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad squad in the Indian Premier League 2018 and Mohammedan Sporting Club squad in the Dhaka Premier League 2018. He has been playing professional cricket since 2004.

(From left) Bipul Sharma, Ishwar Chaudhary and Milind Kumar sign their contract with the Sikkim Cricket Association "First of all, I would like to thank the Sikkim Cricket Association for giving me the opportunity to play for the The three players are Bipul Sharma from Punjab, Milind Kumar from Delhi and Ishwar Chaudhary from Gujarat. "The SCA decided to hire the three players as per the norms of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which allows a team to have three professional players in the playing eleven," said Roshan Prasad, the SCA spokesman.

Sharma is an all-rounder who bowls slow left-arm orthodox. He has played for India-A, North Zone, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh Lions, Kings XI Punjab. He was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad squad in the Indian Premier League 2018 and Mohammedan Sporting Club squad in the Dhaka Premier League 2018. He has been playing professional cricket since 2004.

(From left) Bipul Sharma, Ishwar Chaudhary and Milind Kumar sign their contract with the Sikkim Cricket Association "First of all, I would like to thank the Sikkim Cricket Association for giving me the opportunity to play for the state. I am really excited, and I want to share my experience with the local players so that the team as a whole reaches the highest level of excellence," said Sharma.

Chaudhary is a right arm medium fast bowler. He has played for India U-19, West Zone, Gujarat, National Academy of India, Australian Centre of Excellence, and Kolkata Knight Riders. He has been playing for Gujarat since 2007.

Kumar is a right-hand batsman and an occasional offbreak bowler. He has been playing for Delhi since 2010 and was part of Delhi Daredevils squad in Indian Premier League 2018.

The trio are the core of the 15-member Sikkim squad which left for Bhubaneswar for pre-tournament training camp. Other members of the squad are all home-bred players. "Sikkim will play in the plate division which also has eight other teams, including Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Uttarakhand and Bihar. The plate division games start from November 1," said Prasad.

This will be the second major tournament for Sikkim after the SCA attained full membership of the BCCI in August. Last month, the Sikkim team comprising only local players featured in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but lost all its eight matches.

However, Sikkim captain Nilesh Lamichaney made headlines after becoming the first player from the state to score a century in List A cricket even finding a mention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Sikkim.

In this Ranji season, Sikkim will be playing eight matches.