Some players do take a little more time to peak. But when they do, they seem as good as unstoppable. It wouldn’t be an overstatement if the same is said about Anustup Majumdar, who has been Bengal’s crisis man in this Ranji Trophy.

With three centuries and as many 50-plus scores, Anustup’s 790 runs in 13 innings at an average of 65.83 has gone a long way in helping Bengal reach the final, where they will be taking on Saurashtra at Eden Gardens from Thursday. Former captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (782 runs) and No.3 Sudip Gharami (789 runs) have also been significant contributors for Bengal in this Ranji season, but what keeps ‘Ruku’ — as Anustup is fondly called — ahead are his contributions when under pressure and in critical situations.

“He has had successful seasons in the past as well, there were never any doubts about his ability. But those days he wasn’t able to follow that up with another successful season. Now he has gained the maturity and mindset to cash in on the tempo and maintain the good work,” Bengal assistant coach Sourashish Lahiri, who has also been Anustup’s teammate in the past, analysed.

The national selection panel, it seems, has also taken the 38-year-old’s performance so far in this Ranji quite seriously. “It won’t be surprising at all if he’s picked in the squad for the Irani Cup (in Indore from March 1),” a Bengal squad member said.

For the soft-spoken Anustup, discipline, dedication and focus are among the ingredients of a successful first-class career. “He has also grown in experience and there’s also a lot more clarity now in his thought process, which he too agrees,” Lahiri stated.

Besides, in the pre-season, the Bengal coaching staff’s decision to make the batters practise with wet tennis and plastic balls at nets has also sharpened Anustup’s game.

“The wet ball skids while the plastic ones move a fair bit. These do help in training. We have to agree that Anustup and the rest spent hours at nets, which is reaping the rewards,” Lahiri emphasised.

Bengal certainly would hope for another Anustup special to overcome the final barrier.

Full DRS at Eden

For the first time ever, the Decision Review System (DRS) is set to be implemented in full for the Ranji final. It has been learnt that the Ultra-Edge and Ball Tracking technology will be in use in the final with three reviews each for the two teams in both innings.

“Things will be just as they are in a Test match. The required technology along with three reviews for the teams in both innings will be available. A formal announcement on the matter will be made soon,” a BCCI source said on Monday.

Back in the 2019-20 Ranji season, partial DRS was introduced by the BCCI from the semi-finals onwards. Teams then did get the benefit of a virtual pitch map for lbw decisions and slow-motion cameras with four reviews per innings, but there was no HawkEye/Ball Tracking or Snickometer/Ultra-Edge.

The feedback on partial DRS wasn’t too good, especially after some of the decisions were controversial and remained inconclusive in that final between Saurashtra and Bengal in Rajkot. It was then done away with last season.