Much of the credit for Bengal’s three points from their Ranji Trophy opener against Uttar Pradesh goes to the bowling group for their performance in Lucknow.
The batters certainly fared better in the second innings with Abhimanyu Easwaran hitting an unbeaten century and his opening partner Sudip Chatterjee scoring 93. But without the efforts of pacer Mukesh Kumar and left-arm spinner all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed on Day III, when UP had resumed on 198/3 in reply to Bengal’s 311, the crucial first-innings lead would not have been possible.
However, now that Bengal have managed to get those vital points from an away encounter, they have quickly shifted focus to their next game — against Bihar at the Bengal Cricket Academy (BCA) ground in Kalyani beginning on Friday.
On paper, Bihar aren’t strong like UP, Karnataka or even Punjab, so an outright win ought to be the goal for captain Anustup Majumdar and his teammates.
The home team, though, will also be keeping an eye on the overhead conditions as there’s a forecast of rain in Kalyani on Friday and Saturday, the first two days ofthe game.
Besides, Bengal may have to make a forced change in their XI. Former India keeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha appears doubtful for the clash due to back spasms.
“Wriddhi is having a bit of back spasm. He hadn’t taken the field even on the final day of the UP clash. If he fails to be match-fit, either Avilin Ghosh or Shuvam Dey will take his place,” a Cricket Association of Bengal insider saidon Wednesday.
Ghosh is a middle-order batsman, so his chances of making a Ranji debut are higher than that of Dey, an opening batter, if Saha fails to recover.
That aside, off-spinner Writtick Chatterjee’splace seems to be under the scanner too.
Chatterjee, who made his Ranji comeback against UP, finished wicketless and conceded 105 runs in 25 overs across both innings. Agreed, a catch or two was dropped off his bowling, but the UP batters remained mostly untroubled facing him. Pradipta Pramanik or Aamir Gani may take Chatterjee’s place.
Will Mukesh be rested so that he’s back fresher against stronger opponents Kerala? That’s another tricky callBengal need to take. If Mukesh is rested, rookies RohitKumar or Rishav Vivek may get a look in.