Calcutta: As expected, in-form top-order batsman Soham Ghosh was included into Bengal’s XIV-man Ranji side for their matches against Punjab (from December 1) and Orissa (from December 9) in Siliguri. BNR’s Soham, who will make his Ranji debut, has been brought in place of Safi Ahmed.

The Bengal selectors on Friday also drafted in off-spinner Priyankar Mukherjee in place of injured left-arm spinner Murtaza Lodhgar. Priyankar by the way did not play a single match in last season’s Ranji Trophy.

However the selectors retained faith in out-of-form offie Sourashish Lahiri though he was robbed off the vice-captaincy. “There’ll be no vice-captain for the two matches,” said chief selector Arup Bhattacharya. The team will leave for Siliguri on Wednesday.

THE SQUAD

Laxmi Ratan Shukla (captain), Arindam Das, Anustup Majumdar, Soham Ghosh, Manoj Tiwary, Kamal Hasan Mondal, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyankar Mukherjee, Ranadeb Bose, Shib Shankar Paul, Ashok Dinda, Sourav Sarkar, Rana Chowdhury, Sourasish Lahiri