Bengal will be able to avail of Abhimanyu Easwaran’s services in their next Ranji Trophy game against Nagaland at Sovima (near Dimapur) beginning on Tuesday.
Easwaran, who was in the India squad as a back-up opener for the Test series in Bangladesh, is set to join the Bengal team in Dimapur on Monday morning.
“He got the green light to join our squad since the Mirpur Test ended early. He would’ve had to wait if the Test went the distance,” a Bengal team source said.
The inclusion of Easwaran, who’s in good form with back-to-back centuries for India A on the recent tour of Bangladesh, should strengthen Bengal’s top order which hasn’t been too consistent so far. However, the captaincy reins will remain with Manoj Tiwary, who will be leading Bengal till the end of their Ranji campaign this season.
With the Sovima pitch likely to assist spin, Bengal will add either Pradipta Pramanik or Ankit Mishra as the extra spinner alongside Shahbaz Ahmed. A call will also be taken on whether seamer all-rounder Sayan Sekhar Mondal continues in the XI or is replaced by Karan Lall, who’s a spinner all-rounder.
“It seems the pitch here will probably start assisting spinners from Day 2 itself. So it’s better if we go in with an additional spinner along with Shahbaz,” assistant coach Sourashish Lahiri said.
