Coach Sanjeev Sharma Accolades Sikkim Cricket
Sikkim Cricket Team Coach Sanjeev Sharma, a former India International while speaking to press on Thursday says that he would like to thank the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for appointing him as coach of Sikkim team.
The day I received the mail about my new assignment as a coach, I felt it will not be an easy task, as it is for the very first time Sikkim will be playing first-class and list-A tournaments of BCCI. Later I came to know that no professional players will be hired in the team as the state association has decided to play only with local players. But when I joined the team at KIITS, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, where we had a week’s Preparatory Camp, I was impressed by the overall performance of individuals. We had very limited time for the camp and also we lacked practice matches but all the support staffs and the team worked hard on skills, meetings and counselling every day during the camp. I would also like to thank Sikkim Cricket Association on giving me the full charge to select the final team for Vijay Hazare Trophy and having faith in me for selection.
Hard games ahead but our main focus is on playing the full overs. Thou all the teams include professional players but I have made it sure that it won’t affect my team’s mentality and performance on the field and so far the team has dealt with it positively. We crossed 200 runs in both the matches and have played 50 overs in full. We have a good side altogether. The captain Nilesh is playing well and has a very good game temperament, the 99 runs first wicket partnership with Faizan against Arunachal was an excellent performance by both the players, Ashish being the most promising player, all-rounder’s like Plazor and Lee Yong are consistently performing good, the bowlers are equally doing well and the seniors in the team is proving themselves an asset with Amos Rai bowling full spell in every match and being effective on the opponents.
A day after the Sikkim’s match with Arunachal Pradesh, there was a managers meeting with the BCCI officials in Anand, Gujarat where Saba Karim, General Manager, Cricket Operations in India appreciated the initiative taken by Sikkim Cricket Association of playing with only local players and the house also gave a standing ovation on teams performance against Arunachal.