 agencies
NEW DELHI, Feb 15: A red-hot Bengal will have a chance to claim their first Ranji Trophy title in 33 years when they face Saurashtra, bolstered by the return of pacer and domestic game heavyweight Jaydev Unadkat, in the summit clash in Kolkata from Thursday.
Bengal will not just be hungry to win the title, but revenge will also be on their mind. The last time Bengal made the final in 2020, Saurashtra had won the title on the basis of first innings lead at their home turf in Rajkot.
Both the teams are set to cross swords in a Ranji final again, this time at Eden Gardens, a venue where Bengal had won their last Ranji Trophy way back in 1990
It's not that Bengal have been underperforming. They have been on an upward curve since the 2019-20 season, making it to the semifinals three times on the trot. They have played two finals in this period. In between, the 2020-21 season was abandoned because of COVID-19 pandemic.
The likes of opening batter Abhimanyu Easwaran, all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed and pacer Mukesh Kumar, who have been in the national radar for quite some time, are well aware that a title at the biggest stage of the domestic level could be a career-changing feat.
Pacer Akash Deep, with 37 wickets from nine matches, has been in red-hot form this season, while youngster Sudip Gharmi has come of age as their second highest run-getter (789 runs).
Bengal's main strength in the recent past has been its pace bowling and the troika of Akash Deep, Ishan Porel and Mukesh Kumar would look to exploit the Eden green-top.
But against a Saurashtra team that is bolstered by the return of left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat from the national side, the onus would be on the Bengal batters to give the winning edge by taking a first innings lead.
ONUS ON BENGAL BATTERS
By his standards, Bengal's batting mainstay Abhimanyu is yet to come out on top form this season in crucial matches and he would hope to give his best in the final.
Veteran Anustup Majumdar has been Bengal's crisis man and the leading scorer for them with 790 runs, while it would be another test of character for the 23-year-old Gharami.
Much credit is also due to their inspirational skipper Manoj Tiwary who returned to lead the side after three years to take Bengal to the final with his senior teammate Laxmi Ratan Shukla, now the Bengal head coach.
Tiwary, who is also the state sports minister, is 167 runs shy of a personal milestone of 10,000 runs in first-class cricket. He may not have been prolific with the bat (398 runs) but his astute captaincy and maturity has worked well for the side.
"I'm not thinking about milestones. Speaking from experience, whenever you have a milestone in mind the focus shifts," Tiwary said at the media interaction. |
