As Dimapur of Nagaland gets ready to host the first ever Ranji Trophy matches in the State from Thursday, the acting secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Amitabh Choudhary arrived in the State.
Choudhury was accorded a warm welcome to the State by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio at a function organised at Dimapur to commemorate the Ranji match to be hosted and played by Nagaland.
Honorable Chief Minister of Nagaland @Neiphiu_Rio welcoming Shri Amitabh Choudhary, Acting Secretary #BCCI at the function to commemorate the first ever #RanjiTrophy Match hosted and played by Nagaland! #NagalandCricketAssociation @abumetha @imVkohli @ianuragthakur pic.twitter.com/NK4onodDbE
— Mmhonlumo Kikon (@MmhonlumoKikon) October 31, 2018
The Ranji Trophy match will be held at the Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Sovima in Dimapur. The first game will be played in between Nagaland and Mizoram.
Informing about the commemoration programme on his Twitter handle on Wednesday, Chief Minister Rio stated: “Honoured to be part of the commemorative function on the occasion of the inaugural Ranji Trophy match, hosted & played by Nagaland. My best wishes to the playing teams – Nagaland and Mizoram and to the host Nagaland Cricket Association.”
Honoured to be part of the commemorative function on the occassion of the inaugural #RanjiTrophy match; hosted & played by Nagaland. My best wishes to the playing teams – #Nagaland and #Mizoram and to the host #NagalandCricketAssociation. @BCCI @amitabhchjsca pic.twitter.com/CQarhwvJqL
— Neiphiu Rio (@Neiphiu_Rio) October 31, 2018
The Nagaland Cricket Association (NCA) has already declared its team for the first ever first class match in Nagaland
The NCA cricketers who will play for the host team are Jonathan Rongsen (C), Hokaito Zhimomi, Tahmeed Rahman, Mughavi Wotsa, Inakato Zhimomi, Imliwati Lemtur, Paras Sehrawat, Jalaluddin, Toni Chishi, Sedezhalie Rupreo, Nitesh Lochab, Santosh Mahato and Rachit Bhatia.
While KB Pawan (wk), Abrar Kazi and Pawan Suyal are the guest players, the support staff members include Kawaljeet Singh (Coach), Dinesh Suvarna (Trainer), Mowalong Kichu (Physio) and A Rahman (Manager).
According to reports, Nagaland Chief Minister Rio along with his Cabinet colleagues will witness the first match to be held on Thursday.
Nagaland will host four matches. The first match will start at 8 am.
According to the fixtures, the Nagaland vs Mizoram match will be held on November 1-4; Nagaland vs Sikkim – November 12-15; Nagaland vs Manipur – December 6-9 and the Nagaland vs Arunachal Pradesh match will take place from December 30 to January 2, 2019.