Assam Cricket Association announces overseas exposure tours for senior teams

Kolkata: In a historic move, Assam Cricket Association (ACA), inspired by its former secretary-cum-guiding force and current BCCI secretary, Devajit Saikia, on Sunday announced overseas exposure tours for the Assam senior men's and women's sides in June-July.Ranji Trophy captain Denish Das will lead the 15-member senior men's squad on the Namibia tour — their first match-up against a national side — from June 18 to July 1 . Former Assam cricketer Subhrajit Saikia will coach the men's side on the tour.India international Uma Chetry will captain the 14-member women's side, who will on the Assam women's first-ever overseas tour. She will have Rashmi Dey as her deputy on the international tour to Malaysia from July 5-16. The women will be coached by Rajib Rajbangshi.The men's team will play five one-day matches against Namibia senior national men's team in the capital city of Windhoek. The women's team, too, will play five one-day games against Malaysia senior national women's team.Aiming to provide crucial international exposure and experience to both the senior squads, these overseas tours will allow the players to compete in different playing conditions away from home and enhance their performance level.Present at the event to announce the tours, Saikia, who facilitated these tours, said, "This international exposure will be instrumental in shaping the careers of our talented players. Competing against strong international sides will challenge their skills and broaden their cricketing horizon. I'm confident this initiative by ACA will pave the way for future excellence.""Our players carry the aspirations of Assam on their shoulders. I urge them to give their best and return with experience that will uplift the standard of cricket in the state," ACA secretary Tridib Konwar said at the occasion.The squads: Men: Denish Das (Captain), Sumit Ghadigaonkar (vice-captain) (WK), Sibsankar Roy, Parvej Musaraf, Rishav Das, Ruhinandan Pegu (WK), Mrinmoy Dutta, Ayushman Malakar, Akash Sengupta, Rahul Singh, Avinav Choudhury, Darshan Rajbangshi, Bhargab Pratim Lahkar, Saahil Jain, Subham Mandal; Women: Uma Chetry (Captain), Rashmi Dey (vice-captain), Monikha Das, Gayatri Gurung, Priyanka Baruah, Nirupama Baro, Jintimoni Kalita, Jyoti Devi, Khushi Sarma, Mousumi Narah, Amontika Munda, Urmila Chatterjee, Rima Pegu, Priyanka Kalita
Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here. Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171.