Krishna Das - The latest pace sensation from East Zone

Krishna Das being felicitated after his 100th First Class Wicket

In recent times, the eastern part of India hasn’t quite been known for their pace bowlers. The West Bengal-Orissa-Jharkhand-Assam belt has very rarely seen the presence of their pacers in the national team, nor have most of their seam bowlers done consistently well in the domestic circuit.

Prominent names from the region would probably be Orissa’s Debasish Mohanty who had played two Tests and 45 ODIs in the late 90s. Mohanty, with best bowling figures of 10/46 has played 117 first class matches and has a total of 417 wickets. Other names would include Bihar’s Subroto Banerjee who has played 6 ODIs for India and a Test back in 1991-92 and has 135 first class wickets in 59 matches.

In the current breed we have Bengal’s Ashok Dinda with 13 ODIs but no test matches yet, while Jharkhand’s Varun Aaron has 8 Tests with 17 wickets and 9 ODIs with 11 wickets. Apart from these two, in the past few years, no pacer from the region seems to have created an impact. Abu Nachim Ahmed from Assam could have well been another name to join the list, but him drifting away into a rebel league in his prime and subsequent bad run forced him out of the limelight.

The childhood friends who are lighting up India’s pace bowling scene in domestic cricket

The last few years have seen the rise of two new raw pace bowlers from the state of Assam. Two childhood friends from a small district of Assam, Barpeta – Krishna and Arup Das – have been creating havoc in the domestic circuit off late. Of the duo, Krishna has been exceptional this season, scalping his 100th first class wicket in the ongoing Ranji match against Delhi in Guwahati. Krishna achieved this feat in the 27th match, trapping vetern Gautam Gambhir LBW for a duck.

It’s been a fantastic Ranji season for Krishna, who recently scalped 10 wickets against Haryana, a match which his team won. He made his debut back in 2005, at a young age of 15, playing against Kerala in Dibrugarh. He is currently third in the most wicket takers list for the 2015-16 Ranji season with 34 wickets in 6 matches. Ravindra Jadeja with 38 wickets and Vidharba’s off break bowler Akshay Wakhare with 43 wickets are the only two bowlers ahead of him in the list.

This season, Krishna, along with Arup Das, have anchored their team’s performance really well, particularly considering the poor form of their batting counterparts. Arup is another key bowler in the Assam squad. Currently with 97 first class test wickets, he too is just shy of his wicket century. He is also ranked 16th in the most wickets list this season, with 21 wickets from 6 matches.

Krishna Das with Assam coach Sanath Kumar

If critics are to be believed, Assam currently has the best pace bowling line up in the domestic circuit, courtesy of these two childhood friends.

‘It’s good to play alongside someone who has been with you since a long time. We both are from the same place, we have played for the same club and now we are in the same state team. It’s a great support to have him in the team and I am happy that our combination has worked well’, said Krishna Das speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda.

On being asked about how he felt after scalping his 100th first class wicket, he said, “It’s a very special feeling and I am very happy. And I am particularly more delighted because when I made my debut Sanath Kumar sir was the coach, and today when I picked my 100th wicket he is still the coach.

“Last year I when I finished my season with 26 wickets, he said that I should at least try 40 wickets next season. I am happy that I am somewhere close to it now.”

The road however hasn’t been that smooth for the pacer. Back in 2006, he met with a horrible car accident that kept him out of the field for nearly two years. After lot of hard work and immense determination he made his comeback and since then he has been performing really well.

Raw talent Krishna was picked by Assam’s current coach Sanath Kumar when he was bowling in the nets as a 15 year old kid. Impressed by his skills, Sanath gave him his first class debut in which he picked four wickets in the first innings. His team mates say that he is unplayable in the nets.

“I have always idolized Abu Nachim and former Assam player Mark Ingti. It was really a difficult time when I had the accident, but persistent hard work brought me back into the team.”

Hailing from a place that is not at all known for its pace bowlers, Krishna being the most wicket taking pacer in Ranji Trophy this season is indeed a great news not just for the state, but for the entire region. The crowd, which primarily comes to see a team batting, are now waiting all day to see Krishna bowl. If harnessed well, another gem awaits a bright cricket future.