The first thing that Bengal would want in their Ranji Trophy clash against Karnataka, beginning at the Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru on Wednesday, is that it remains uninterrupted by rain.
From their last two home games against Bihar and Kerala, Bengal managed only two points because of a wet outfield at Kalyani and the JU Salt Lake campus ground, respectively. That has severely dented their prospects of making the Ranji knockout stage.
Till Saturday — the fourth and final day of the game — there’s no forecast of rain in Bengaluru.
However, the team prefers looking forward to the coming matches instead of crying over spilt milk. In the current situation, Bengal have to salvage as many wins as possible from their remaining games to keep their knockout hopes alive.
It’s going to be quite a tough task. More so, as Bengal are in a rebuilding phase at present with opener and former captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, pacer Mukesh Kumar and keeper-batter Abishek Porel busy with their India A commitments in Australia.
The team management, though, remains optimistic. “We are counting on a fresh start, which begins from tomorrow (Wednesday),” Bengal head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla said from Bengaluru on Tuesday, the eve of the game. “Precisely, that has to be our attitude going forward. No point looking back at what’s already gone.
“We do trust our current group of players and youngsters, we’re quite confident they will help the team rake up as many points as possible from our remaining matches,” Shukla emphasised.
Bengal are likely to make one change in their XI. Young quick Rishav Vivek looks set for his first-class debut in place of pacer Mohammed Kaif, who’s struggling a little bit with shoulder tightness.
Talking about the conditions at the Chinnaswamy, they could be a tad similar to those during the India-New Zealand Test last month. Opting to bat first, India were bundled out on a track that was helpful for quicks with extra bounce and a bit of movement early on.
It was learnt that the Chinnaswamy pitch for this Ranji game has a decent grass covering and should assist pacers in the initial stages. “It’s difficult to say if the surface offers extra bounce or not. But yeah, it does appear to be a good, sporting wicket overall,” Shukla stated.
Bengal’s bowling attack, led by Ishan Porel who took six wickets in his comeback game against Kerala last week, will have a task on hand, especially against the Karnataka batting line-up, which will be under the leadership of skipper Mayank Agarwal.
