Town Club Super Champion

way2barak March 7: Town Club emerged champions of the Silchar DSA Paramount School Cup Super Division Cricket Tournament for the first time, defeating arch-rivals India Club by 19 runs in the final. The match, played at the Satindra Mohan Dev Memorial Stadium, was again marred by controversy, leading to a delayed start. As a result, the match was reduced to 35 overs per side.

After winning the toss, Town Club elected to bat and posted a competitive 212 for 6 in their allotted 35 overs. Sourav Saha scored a solid 52, while Bharat Newar contributed 48. Raju Das added 38 runs, Raihan Jomeel Mazumdar made 22, and Samir Sinha remained unbeaten on 18 to guide the team to a strong total. For India Club, Samik Das picked up two wickets.

Chasing the target, India Club managed 193 runs in their 35 overs. Aman Singh fought a lone battle for his side with a brilliant attacking century. He scored 115 runs off just 79 balls, smashing six sixes and ten fours. Apart from him, Abhishek Deb scored 32 and Biplab Sinha added 15. Town Club captain Pritam Das led the bowling effort with three wickets, while Danish Ahmed and Aniket Basfor claimed two wickets each.

Bharat Newar was adjudged the Player of the Match. Samik Das was named the Best Bowler, while Aman Singh received the Best Batter award. The prizes were presented by DSA president Shibrata Dutta, former president Babul Hore, and former vice-president Sujan Dutta, among others.

Meanwhile, controversy surrounded the final even before the start of play. India Club had written to the DSA president on Friday requesting permission to include their regular cricketer Parvej Musaraf in the team, as they were missing three regular players. Since Parvez had been playing regularly for the state team, India Club had not registered him for this year’s Super Division tournament. Therefore, they sought special permission to register him before the final.

However, the DSA did not provide any written communication to India Club regarding whether their request had been accepted or rejected. As a result, the team captain informed the umpires in the morning that he was unable to finalise the playing eleven. When the matter remained unresolved, India Club initially refused to take the field.

Eventually, General Secretary in-charge Debasish Shome and Assistant General Secretary (Major Sports) Arijit Gupta issued a written note on plain paper with their signatures and the seal of the District Sports Association. The note clarified that Parvej Musaraf would not be allowed to play in the final. Following this decision, India Club finally took the field without him.