Innings lasted 17 overs even as ten Naga batswomen registered ducks; Kerala needed only one delivery to win
Dimapur, Nov. 24 (EMN): A total of two runs, and an innings that lasted for seventeen overs featuring ten ducks – that was how the Under-19 Nagaland women team fared against Kerala at the ongoing BCCI Women's Under-19 One-Day League and Knockout Tournament.
ESPNcricinfo, the most storied cricket website in the world, on Friday proclaimed the ‘total’ as “one of the more incredible scorecards in cricket”. Kerala needed only one legal delivery to win the game, it was reported.
“Even more remarkable was the manner of Nagaland's collapse. The two runs they scored - one off the bat of opening batsman Menka and another in the form of a wide - came before the start of the sixth over, as they effectively went from 2 for 0 to 2 all out in 11.4 overs,” the ESPNcricinfo report read.It also reported Nagaland coach Hokaito Zhimomi, who has played in the Ranji Trophy for Assam, as saying that the Nagaland team began training only in September but protracted rainfall in the state and the absence of any indoor facility limited their pre-tournament preparations to "only four-five sessions", before the North-Eastern Championship began on November 1.
This was the first time that Nagaland and five other north-eastern states of India - Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim - were cleared to participate in the BCCI's Under-19 women's tournament along with Bihar, through the addition of Under-19 North-East Championship, specifically for these states. Nagaland made it to the Super League stage after finishing second in the North-East Championship, behind Bihar.
Zhimomi also runs the only coaching academy for girls in the state, which was opened in July this year in Dimapur, and all nine students of the academy were included in the squad. Most players in the Nagaland team are 15- and 16-year olds.
"The Nagaland Cricket Association was struggling to put a team together because we didn't have any academy for girls. We had to put out advertisements in the local newspapers, which is when the girls started coming to the academy. All of the nine students enrolled in the academy are part of this squad.
"We had to start from scratch because all the girls are completely raw. In their first training session none of the girls knew what skills they specialize in. Yes, there have are a lot of loopholes to plug, but one needs to understand these girls have only started playing cricket. Most of these girls will be taking part in the Under-16 tournament [that begins in December] and also the Under-23 competition as well,” the report read.
NCA throws weight behind players
The Nagaland Cricket Association (NCA) issued a statement on Friday in what was clearly an attempt at damage control. The statement, it stated, was necessitated following the defeat of Nagaland Under-19 women’s team at the hand of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Mumbai, and Jharkhand.
“Nagaland participated in the women’s competition for the first time despite not having active women’s cricket in the state. An intensive coaching camp after selection of probables was conducted at Dimapur under the guidance of first class cricketer Hokaito. The team played its first ever tournament at Dhanbad in the zonal event and performed beyond expectations by winning four matches defeating Arunachal, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Manipur, while losing to Bihar by a close margin of 4 wickets. Thereby becoming the only team from entire NE to qualify for the Super League.
“By virtue of these performances, the team qualified for the super league and is now playing at Guntoor against states that have been playing first class and international cricket for more than five decades. While the huge defeat is definitely a disappointment, our girls need encouraging and support for better performances in future,” the NCA statement pleaded.
It cited ‘limited infrastructure, lack of facilities, absence of human resource in coaching and training and dearth of funds’ as ‘some of the challenges’ faced by the NCA over the years.
Quite strangely, it cited the performance of boys in age group tournaments. “Despite today’s defeat, our cricketers have been doing quite well in the boys age group tournaments of the BCCI, and at present the (sic) have two players in the combined U19 team of NE and Bihar, Tahmeed (captain ) and Petinezo Rupereo playing the One-day Vinoo Mankad Trophy and the four day Cooch Behar trophy. In 2016 four U19 Nagaland players - Sedezalie, Nagaho Chishi, Puchu Dev and Tahmeed played for the combined team of BCCI and Tahmeed was even listed in the East Zone probables list,: it stated.
“In 2017 the NCA has already hosted a Cooch Behar trophy match and is alloted to host four U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy matches in Dec 2017, in which Nagaland U-16 boys team is also participating. The U-23 Nagaland boys team and womens (sic) team of Nagaland are also preparing to play BCCI tournaments in Jan and Feb 2018 at Ranchi and Agartala.”
