Palzor Tamang: Bowls His Way To Glory

First Sikkimese To Take 5 Wickets In First-Class Cricket

Palzor Tamang, the captain of Sikkim Ranji Team becomes the first cricketer from Sikkim to claim five wickets haul in first-class cricket. He took 6 wickets in a Ranji Trophy match against Manipur at Vikash Cricket Ground, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. He considers his parents Mr Karma Tshering Tamang and Mrs Manu Tamang as his role models, who always stands by him no matter what. A Sub-Inspector by profession from Gangtok, the tall and lanky pacer said that the journey was not that easy.

Looking at the ball with which he took 6 wickets Tamang remembered his childhood days when he had his first brush with Cricket. We use to play cricket with native brothers in local grounds on a regular basis. Remembering his father he added that his father was his inspiration who always encouraged and motivated him to play cricket. “I hardly remember any match that I played in an around Gangtok and my father missed it. He always used to come to the ground and cheers for me. All that I am today is because of the support of my father,” he further added.

Tamang joined the state camp for the first time in 2004 under Coach Sonam Pladen Bhutia, currently the coach of Sikkim Ranji Team. He made his debut for Sikkim in U15 category against Odisha on 7th November 2006 in Polly Ulmigar Trophy at Mining Cricket Ground. But his talent in cricket was noticed a year before that when he got selected for “School Games Federation of India” in 2005 for the Kendriya Vidyalaya school team. He played in U17 state team in the year 2007-08 in Vijay Merchant Trophy and the very next season he represented Sikkim in Cooch Behar Trophy in the U19 category and it was in this category where he took his first 5 wickets in a match against Kerala at Tata Digwadi Stadium, Jamadoba. The same year he was made the captain of the team and also scored his first half-century against Jammu & Kashmir and scored 89 runs against Odisha also. He had an impressive all-round performance in the junior nationals against strong teams like Odisha, J&K, Kerala, etc.

In 2009 he was picked for the East Zone camp which was held at Kolkata and from there he was selected for the “Board President’s XI” team and played the zonal matches in Bangalore. He is the only player from Sikkim to get picked for the Board President’s XI, where he played with many renowned cricketers of the present.

During the off-season he was mostly associated with Alpine Cricket Club of Gangtok where he used to play club matches with his seniors – Amosh Rai, Tshewang Lama, Dhiraj Gurung, who use to guide him improve his game and was supported by colleagues Nilesh Lamichaney, Ashish Thapa and Lee Yong Lepcha.

“Being assigned as the captain of the Ranji Team was really exciting and challenging journey for me but I am enjoying it and working hard. It is a big responsibility trusted upon me by the association and I will give my best to lead the team from the front and do justice to the role assigned to me,” he added.