If you are not an Indian, it is important to look at the map of India to understand the context. The seven states in North-East India – Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh – are separated from the rest of the nation by the Siliguri Corridor, roughly 20 km wide.

The long, rich history of North-East India, the politics, their isolation from the rest of India are beyond the scope of this piece. We shall restrict ourselves to cricket here.

Assam, the largest of the states, debuted in the Ranji Trophy in 1948/49, and were slotted in the East Zone. Until 1985/86, Tripura’s maiden season, Assam won only five games outright, all of them against Orissa (now Odisha). They were not among the stronger sides of the East Zone, which was invariably dominated by Bengal and, to some extent, Bihar.

It was perhaps this attitude of disdain that had led to former Bengal (and India) cricketer Ashok Malhotra to refer to Assam cricketers as “second-class citizens” on air. Malhotra subsequently apologised.

Across the seven states, Guwahati was the only city to have hosted international cricket. This holds to this day. Assam and Tripura often served as refuge for cricketers, even former internationals, dropped from major sides. Lalchand Rajput, Chandrakant Pandit, S Ramesh, Sairaj Bahutule all played for Assam. Ajay Ratra played for Tripura. Wriddhiman Saha leads them.

The scenario changed in 2002/03, when the organisers abandoned the zonal groups for the Ranji Trophy. Now part of a larger pool, both Assam and Tripura found winning ways. Assam went from strength to strength over time, reaching the Vijay Hazare Trophy final in 2012/13 and the Ranji Trophy final in 2015/16.

Off-spinner Ritu Dhrub had played for India by then. Born in Sivasagar, Dhrub rose through the ranks through domestic performances and debuted for India against Bangladesh in 2012/13 in ODIs and T20Is. Her unremarkable international career did not outlast the series – which also marked Smriti Mandhana’s debut – but a barrier had been broken.

It may be argued that Reema Malhotra (2012/13 and 2013/14) and Amita Sharma (2013/14) were active Indian cricketers when they played for Assam. A case may be made for Rumeli Dhar as well: she played for Assam in 2015/16 and 2016/17 but earned an international recall after six years only after moving to Delhi in 2017/18.

Unlike them, Dhrub, as a home-grown cricketer of Assam, was the first from North-East India to play international cricket. However, that was before the 2017 World Cup, the watershed tournament in the history of viewership of women’s cricket in India. Even Assam Cricket does not remember her.

A new era

From 2018/19, the BCCI inducted every state into domestic cricket competitions across gender and formats. In the second season, Meghalaya stunned Mumbai, the giants of Indian domestic cricket, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

From 2022/23, the Duleep Trophy – the inter-zonal tournament, often perceived as an intermediate level between the Ranji Trophy and the national side – had North East Zone as the sixth side. While cricketers from five states and Sikkim were eligible for the team, Assam and Tripura remained part of East Zone.

Kiran Navgire had moved from Maharashtra to Nagaland. By smashing 162 not out (off 76 balls) against Arunachal Pradesh in 2021/22, she became the first Indian across genders to smash a 150 in T20 cricket. Her stunning run earned her a place in the Indian side in 2022.

However, it took the IPL and the WPL to bring the stars from the North-East India into focus. Abu Nechim Ahmed had played for India Under-19s, but it was his Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians stints that earned him a spot in the limelight.

Picked by Rajasthan Royals, Riyan Parag followed suit. In 2019, he became the youngest to hit an IPL fifty (a record he still holds), but despite some astonishing performances in domestic cricket, his IPL career stalled. It was not until 2024 – when he amassed 573 runs at a strike rate of 149 – that he came into national contention and was picked for the Zimbabwe tour.

By then, Uma Chetry had broken into the UP Warriorz (alongside Navgire) and the Indian squad. Her Assam teammate Jintimani Kalita had earned a Mumbai Indians contract as well. When Richa Ghosh suffered a concussion while keeping wicket on July 5, Chetry stepped in with the big gloves, but when India used a substitute, they named S Sajana, not Chetry.

A day later, Riyan made his T20I debut for India. If Ghosh does not recover by the second T20I, on July 7, Chetry – the only other wicketkeeper in the squad – may join the list.

As for Riyan, he could go on to become Assam cricket's guiding light for bigger honours.

"Growing up, I always felt people from our region limit themselves from dreaming big," he told ESPNcricinfo in May. "I'd like to change that. I'm not there [an international player] yet. I want to play for the country. Once I do, then people know they can have a pathway, a road map from one of their very own who got there. Now I've played in the IPL and there's realisation from the people that even if you're from a small state like Assam, you can get to that level."

"But the thing is, the IPL can't be that big a goal. You can play for one year and fade away. But when I play for the country, when I make it to the country, I think that's when the actual road map will be set.

"They don't have to really follow it. They can have their own versions of it."

The debut has arrived, and the road map has been set. Time will tell how many will make the journey along it.

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