KOLKATA: After making it into the semis of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for the first time, a confident and ruthless Assam will look to extend their best-ever show in the domestic T20 meet when they take on Baroda in Mohali on Saturday for a place in the final.
On a four-match winning streak after losing against Chandigarh last in the group league, Assam would hope to get the better of Baroda, who have beaten one of the best teams in the meet – Mumbai — in the quarterfinals. Assam, on the other hand, did a double on Kerala to book their semis berth.
Speaking to TOI from Mohali on the eve of the crucial game against a domestic powerhouse like Baroda, Assam coach Trevor Gonsalves sounded confident that his boys can do the job like they have been doing in their previous games.
“We have beaten big teams in the meet so far, got some big wins, so we are a confident lot going into the semifinals. With all due respect to Baroda, we are not looking at who we are playing, every game, every team is the same for us. So, there won’t be any change in strategy for Baroda. We would like to bowl first tomorrow as the dew factor will be there in the evening game (4:30pm start), but not giving much importance to the toss. I do have one-two tricks up my sleeve, but that I can’t reveal now,” Gonsalves said on Friday with a hearty laugh, reflecting the kind of mood the whole team is in.
Asked if his being the Punjab Kings assistant coach is giving his Assam wards some advantage in Mohali, Gonsalves said, “Yeah, it gives you slight edge as I have been to this ground for two and a half months during IPL but these days players are smart enough to adapt to the ground conditions fast, so there won’t be much advantage as such.”
Captain Riyan Parag is hogging the limelight in the meet with his scintillating form as he is the top scorer with 502 runs at an average of 100-plus runs and world record seven half-centuries on the trot. However, Assam have fired as a unit with the bowlers coming up with good contributions.
“We have a new bowling lineup apart from Mukhtar Hussain, and to some extent Mrinmoy Dutta, who played a few matches last season (both medium pacers). We had some shortcomings at the beginning of the tournament but those have been ironed out now. Off late, our bowlers are giving very few extras, so that’s helping us have a disciplined bowling unit,” explained the former Vidarbha coach.
Elaborating further on their free-flowing approach in every game, the Nagpur born 51-year-old coach said, “All players are playing freely, enjoying the games. Batters are putting the pressure back onto the opponents whenever they are losing a wicket. We are playing in the most ruthless and dominating way and that’s paying us back in this format.”
Semifinal fixtures (in Mohali): Punjab vs Delhi (11:00 am); Assam vs Baroda (4:30 pm)
