Lack of Bengal players in the Kolkata Knight Riders line-up is a common talking point during and after every IPL season. After Manoj Tiwary in 2013, no other cricketer from Bengal has been a part of the Knight Riders final XI. Overall also, few from Bengal have managed to bag IPL contracts in recent years.
The scenario, however, could be different this time as some of the franchises are showing interest in the players from Bengal.
Alongside India cricketers Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammed Shami, 12 others from Bengal are there on the list of 590 players set to go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bangalore on February 12 and 13. The surprise element for Bengal in this year’s auction could well be middle-order batsman Ritwik Roy Chowdhury.
With impressive numbers in white-ball cricket in the current domestic season, particularly in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy where he averaged 43.50 at a strike rate of 147.45 and earned applause as a finisher, franchises such as the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians are learnt to have expressed their interest in the 26-year-old. According to sources, both franchises, particularly RCB, could bid for him at the auction.
Ritwik (base price Rs 20 lakh), lately, has appeared for trials with the Chennai Super Kings, scoring half-centuries in a couple of practice matches there, and also with Mumbai over the last two days.
It’s not without any reason that Bengal head coach Arun Lal had spoken so highly of him in the recent past.
Along with Ritwik, spinner-all-rounder Writtick Chatterjee (base price Rs 20 lakh) too appeared for the recent trials with Mumbai, who were impressed with his (off-spin) bowling in this season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where Bengal lost in the quarter finals. “Both Ritwik and Chatterjee have a good chance of being picked up, especially Ritwik. And it’s all because of their performances during critical situations,” Lal said.
“There are also two new teams this time around (Lucknow and Ahmedabad). So the probability factor (of Bengal cricketers’ selection) is a little bit more compared to how it was previously,” a franchise official told The Telegraph.
Spinner all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed, who was with RCB in the last two editions, pacer Akash Deep (also RCB) and Ishan Porel (Punjab Kings) have had their share of experiences in the IPL, so their selection in any of the teams shouldn’t really be too surprising.
