Bengal to serve it hot , Sports - Nation - Kolkata Mirror,Kolkata Mirror

By Arup Chatterjee

Posted On Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 12:13:45 PM

Saurashtra coach Debu Mitra (right), captain Jaydev Shah and Cheteshwar Pujara discuss a point at the Eden on Monday, while picture right shows Bengal coach Roger Binny passing on a tip to stand-in skipper Manoj Tiwary

Kolkata: Bengal, bolstered by the return of some big guns, seem emboldened enough to step out of comfort zone and take the fight to Saurashtra when their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match begins at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday. Up against a team that flaunts a daunting and in-form middleorder, the hosts have queered the pitch for the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Sitanshu Kotak.

The green sheen on the wicket suggests a tilt to swing and seam, and it’s not hard to guess why.

With the Eden lending itself nicely to the seam-up stuff at this time of the year, Ranadeb Bose and Ashok Dinda — key players in the victory over Maharashtra in their campaign-opener in Pune — present a daunting prospect for the opposition. Then, there is the return of Sourav Ganguly and Rohan Gavaskar lending more solidity to the batting and, thus, more cover against the new-ball bowlers of Saurashtra — a department where the visitors suffer badly in comparison.

In fact, inexperience is a gulf that Saurashtra will have to bridge with self-belief — an area in which the team has made great strides under coach Debu Mitra, a former Bengal player and the man who guided Ganguly in his early years.

“I’ve told the boys to just give their 100 per cent. Cricket is a one-ball game, who knows what can happen,” Mitra said, echoing the confidence that skipper Jaydev Shah and the rest of the team has been carrying in recent times. Not least because they made the semifinals of the last two editions.

Bengal, perennially saddled with off-the-field issues, seemed to have got over their latest one on Monday when the CAB named Manoj Tiwary as vicecaptain for the season. It paved the way for his leading the side in the absence of an injured Laxmi Ratan Shukla, an elevation that had Deep Dasgupta crying foul after the Karnataka match last week. “The atmosphere in the dressing room is fine, and we hope to do well in this match,” Tiwary said after Bengal’s final workout.

Fans and CAB officials will be keeping their fingers crossed.

Shukla failed to pass fitness scrutiny on Monday, the selectors actually waiting for the verdict of the support staff before sitting down to pick the 15 for the match. Shukla, Shib Sagar Singh and Arindam Ghosh have been omitted from the squad that went to Mysore.

While Pujara, Jadeja, Kotak and opener Chirag Pathak scored heavily in Saurashtra’s last match, Bengal’s top batsmen are also among runs. Skipper Tiwary is in fine fettle while Ganguly, who has been only playing the home matches, scored 76 when Baroda came calling. The former India skipper, in Mumbai for a promotional event and a Knight Riders meeting, skipped Monday’s practice.

With key batsmen in form both sides of the divide, bowlers could make the difference. It is here that Bengal hold the edge, both in terms of quality and experience.

While Sourav Sarkar is likely to join Bose and Dinda to present a potent pace combo, off-spinner Sourashish Lahiri — surely pepped up by a five-wicket haul in the last match — would see his chance against a team loaded with left-handers.

After being at the receiving end of two draws, against Baroda and Karnataka,the afterglow of Bengal’s winning start has begun to melt.It’s time to restore belief among their backers. (TNN)

Photo: TOI