The Goa Cricket Association (GCA) has roped in former India international Dinesh Mongia as the head coach of the senior men’s team, while J.P. Yadav has been named the U-23 coach.
Mongia, who represented India in 57 ODIs and a solitary T20I, served as the coach of Odisha last season, but with Surendra Bhave replacing him this time around, Mongia moved on to take up a new assignment with Goa.
Yadav, another India international, will replace Swapnil Asnodkar as the U-23 coach, and the state association hopes that his experience of playing for the national team and also coaching teams like Railways will benefit the young players.
While there have been new recruitments in the coaching staff, the GCA has decided to continue with Arjun Tendulkar and K.V. Siddharth as professional players, while Rohan Kadam has been added to the roster as the third player after Rahul Tripathi returned to Maharashtra.
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Kadam had taken a No Objection Certificate from the Karnataka State Cricket Association last season to move to Goa. However, with the association signing Tripathi, Kadam had to miss out on the season. This season, the youngster will be back in action for Goa while Siddharth, who amassed 467 runs in the Ranji Trophy last season, will be hoping to start the season on a high.
Sportstar understands that a majority of the GCA apex council members decided to give another term to Arjun, son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 258 runs in Ranji Trophy and claimed nine wickets.
Jiwanjot, Mandeep set to play for Tripura
With Wriddhiman Saha and Sudip Chatterjee returning to Bengal, the Tripura Cricket Association has roped in Jiwanjot Singh and Mandeep Singh as professional players while they are on the look-out for a wicketkeeper-batter. According to TCA assistant secretary Jayanta Dey, both Jiwanjot, who played for Uttarakhand last season, and the seasoned Mandeep, who captained Punjab to its Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win last season, are set to join the team soon.
Mandeep has already received a No Objection Certificate from Punjab Cricket Association. “We have received his application for NOC. It’s definitely a big loss for Punjab cricket, but if a player wants to move elsewhere for better prospects, why should we stop?” PCA president Amarjeet Singh Mehta told Sportstar.
While Jiwanjot moved on to Uttarakhand after a long stint with Punjab, Mandeep served Punjab cricket as the captain for a long period of time. In his long career, spanning 14 years, Mandeep has featured in 99 first-class and 131 List A outings.
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