Snehasish Ganguly, the new Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president, received a warm welcome as he entered Eden Gardens after Monday’s annual general meeting, which was held at a city hotel.

A cake-cutting ceremony was followed by fireworks outside the CAB premises. The celebrations aside, Sourav Ganguly’s elder brother seems aware of the tasks ahead of him as the state association chief — taking Bengal cricket forward as well as the 50-over World Cup scheduled to be held in India next year.

But alongside all those, Snehasish made his intentions clear of bringing both Wriddhiman Saha and Sudip Chatterjee back to Bengal. Wicketkeeper-batter Saha, who played 40 Tests and nine ODIs, had left for Tripura before the start of this domestic season after one senior CAB official had questioned his attitude towards Bengal.

Senior batsman Chatterjee also joined Saha in Tripura, claiming he wasn’t given enough opportunities in the team.

Snehasish said the CAB would be getting in touch with both the cricketers so that they are back to playing for Bengal.

“Wriddhi is Bengal’s pride. From Bengal, only Sourav (113) and Pankaj Roy (43) have played more Test matches than him. He has given a lot to Bengal and he still has plenty more to give.

“We still share a very cordial relationship with Wriddhi and we do believe he will come back to play for Bengal again,” Snehasish said.

“At present, it won’t be right to disturb him since he’s busy with the season. But once the season gets over, I will try and talk to him. The door for him will always be open and we’ll be more than happy to welcome him back.

“The same applies to Sudip,” Snehasish added.

Trinamul Congress MLAJune Maliah also attended the CAB AGM as a representative of West Midnapore DSA.“I’ve seen that the (cricketing)aspirants there in west Midnapore and Jangalmahal are naturally gifted. So I wish to give them, the girls in particular, the push that they need,” she said.