Sikkim are a match away from being promoted to the Elite group of the Ranji Trophy next season after finishing second with 20 points in the league phase of the six-team Plate group and qualifying for the semi-finals of the country’s premier tournament.
Now, Sikkim will take on Manipur in the semi-final at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, which is the home ground of Manipur. If they win the match and reach the finals, they will qualify for the Elite group.
In their last league match at the Sikkim Cricket Ground near Rangpo on Thursday, Sikkim handed out a thrashing to Arunachal Pradesh by an innings and 258 runs on Thursday, registering their third win, all of which were in their home games. In their two away matches, Sikkim had drawn against Bihar and lost against Meghalaya.
While Meghalaya topped the league with 25 points by winning all their games, Manipur also with 20 points, but lower net run rate than that of Sikkim, and Bihar with 11 points in four matches finished third and fourth, respectively.
Resuming at their overnight score of 477 for the loss of eight wickets in response to Arunachal’s first innings total of 213, Sikkim batters added another 55 runs to amass a massive 532 runs, to take a first innings lead of 319 runs. Allrounder Paljor Tamang hit his maiden Ranji ton to emulate captain Ashish Thapa and fellow allrounder Sumit Singh who both had hit centuries on Wednesday.
Following on, Arunachal could manage a paltry 61 in their second innings to lose the match by a massive innings and 258 runs. Sikkim spinners Lee Yong Lepcha and Tarun Sharma spun a web around the Arunachali batters to bag five and four wickets, respectively.
A jubilant home skipper Ashish has said the credit for the team’s performances in the tournament goes not just to the players, but the entire support staff and the Sikkim Cricket Association (SICA).
“This is a team game and the contributions of everyone from coach, players and the rest are responsible for this success,” he said.
Ashish said his team was confident of performing well in the semifinal against Manipur, having beaten them in the league phase. “We know the strengths and weaknesses of Manipur, and we will obviously plan accordingly. As a team, we are really gelling well and we will carry this bonding forward,” he said.
The Sikkim skipper thanked SICA for supporting and showing faith in the home players by not including guest players in the team this season. “The boys have done well by living up to the expectations. I am hopeful that we will continue improving and compete well against the Elite teams,” he said.
According to the Ranji Trophy format, both the finalists of the Plate group will be promoted to the 32-team Elitegroup in the next season.
Dinesh Mongia, Arunachal coach and former India cricketer, was all praise for the Sikkim team and the cricket administration. “I think Sikkim is one of the associations which have taken some great steps and they are on the right track. I wish them all the very best and, hopefully, very soon, you will see some good names, good cricketers, coming up from here,” he said.
Lauding the facilities at the Sikkim Cricket Ground as being of almost international standards, Mongia also hailed SICA for being bold in fielding only home-grown players this season. “If you can play RanjiTrophy without any professional players with your own local cricketers, and those cricketers can put up performances like this, it is amazing,” he said.
