Assam head coach Kiran Powar had mixed feelings after his side sealed a nine-wicket win over Tripura in their Ranji Trophy Group B fixture at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday, wrapping up the match inside three days and collecting six points. While delighted to return to winning ways with their first outright victory in more than two seasons — the previous one also coming at the same venue, against Bihar in February 2024 — Powar was left ruing a missed bonus point.
“We had prepared well from May and I kept telling the boys to have faith in themselves because they had worked hard. The boys showed that,” Powar told TOI from Guwahati. “Overall, I’m happy because the team gave their heart out.”
The coach, however, felt Assam failed to fully capitalise on a position of dominance. Opener Rishav Das, who made 37 after getting set in the first innings, fell in the chase with Assam just six runs short of the 36-run target. “I was very disappointed with Rishav,” Powar said. “When you need only a few runs for an additional bonus point, that’s not the time to throw your wicket away. This one point can matter a lot when the standings are decided. The difference between six points and seven points can be huge.”
Powar was equally unhappy with the first-innings total of 334. “Some of the batters gave their wickets away very casually,” he said, pointing to unconverted starts from Nibir Deka (34), captain Denish Das (17), Sibsankar Roy (54), wicketkeeper-batter Sumit Ghadigaonkar (49) and Swarupam Purkayastha (69).
The bowling unit, though, delivered emphatically, skittling Tripura for just 62 in the first innings. “Our fast bowlers got us back into the game. The line and length they maintained was exactly what we had been working on in practice,” Powar said. Pacers Mukhtar Hussain and Hridip Deka took five and three wickets in the first and second innings respectively.
Tripura showed greater fight after following on. Reduced to 54 for 5, they rallied through captain Manisankar Murasingh’s counter-attacking 161 off 160 balls and Sentu Sarkar’s 59 to post 307 and force Assam to bat again. “We got a bit complacent after getting five wickets down cheaply. We thought it would happen quickly from there,” Powar admitted. “But Murasingh batted very smartly. We had plans for him, but at times we couldn’t execute them and also dropped him twice on 0 and 26.”
Powar reserved special praise for Player of the Match Mohit Thakur, the 19-year-old off-spinner whose match haul of eight wickets — 3/6 and 5/101 — shaped the victory. “Taking eight wickets in a match is an excellent achievement. He’s a young boy, a hard worker and always eager to learn. He’s still a work in progress.”
Assam will now rest for a day before travelling to Rajkot on Friday for their third game against Saurashtra. “The boys need recovery first. We’ll have two days of practice there. We’ll take the positives from this game and work on the shortcomings.” Brief scores: Assam 334 and 36/1 in 13.2 overs. Tripura 62 and 307. Points: Assam 6, Tripura 0.
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/six-points-in-the-bag-but-assam-coach-kiran-powar-laments-bonus-point-miss/articleshow/135100037.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-10-22 00:53:00
