Azhar visits Kolkata, discusses bio-bubble protocols

Kolkata: Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin, now president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, discussed issues related to the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament beginning on January 10 in six cities simultaneously.

Hyderabad will play their league matches of group Elite B in Kolkata, against hosts Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and Assam.

"Azharuddin visited Eden Gardens ahead of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and discussed logistical issues and bio-bubble norms with Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president, Avishek Dalmiya," said a CAB statement.

On Thursday, a camp for 25 probables chosen for the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy began at Jadavpur University Second Campus ground while maintaining strict Covid protocols. CAB Vision 2020 consultant VVS Laxman is supervising the camp while Arun Lal is the Bengal head coach.

Later, Pradipta Pramanik joined camp, taking the number of probables to 26. Ishan Porel's rehab is going on at the National Cricket Aacademy in Bangalore, and he should join camp by last week of December.

Also involved in the camp/training session are Director (Cricket Operations) Joydeep Mukherjee, bowling coach Ranadeb Bose, spin-bowling consultant Utpal Chatterjee, and trainer Sanjib Das. Arun Lal feels the teams can't afford to have even one off-day.

"We have got a pretty tough group. We have to play Tamil Nadu, Assam, Odhisa, Jharkhand and Hyderabad. The problem for every team in this tournament is going to be that only one team qualifies from each group and when you have that you can't have an off day.

If you lose one game your chances of qualification are almost finished. So, you have to be on top of your game and win all five matches," the former Test batsman had said at the start of the camp.