Unbeaten Bengal take on Mumbai at home, target second win in Ranji campaign


1st February 2024
With confidence sky-high after a dominant victory in their previous game, Bengal will now aim to bag their second victory of the Ranji Trophy season and extend their unbeaten run when they take on heavyweights Mumbai at the Eden Gardens starting on Friday.
After three successive draws, Bengal went all guns blazing and registered a thumping innings and 162-run victory over Assam in their last match.
With a win and three draws from four games so far, the Laxmi Ratan Shukla-coached side is currently placed in the third spot in Elite Group B with 12 points.
Going into the crucial match against a tough opponent like Mumbai, the victory against Assam will be a confidence booster for the Manoj Tiwary-led side.
"It will surely be a competitive match against two quality sides. We will give our best and hope to bag maximum points from the match," coach Shukla said.
Skipper Tiwary was also optimistic about his team's chances. "To be able to beat a good side like Mumbai will surely give us a lot of confidence. Our boys are in good form. We will hope the sky stays clear so that we can get a full game and a positive result from the match," he said.
The team, despite missing star players like Abhimanyu Easwaran, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, and Shahbaz Ahmed, the others in the side, have stepped up with both bat and ball in the games so far.
Against the Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai, it will be no different as the runners-up from last season will be eager to take one step closer to the knockouts.
The home side will take a lot of positives going into the match.
In the batting department, opener Sourav Paul, who scored a fine 96 in his debut match against Andhra, looked promising, and he will be eager to score some more runs. His partner, Shreyansh Ghosh, will aim to give Bengal a perfect start.
The talented Sudip Kumar Gharami, coming in at No.3, will aim to convert his starts into big ones.
The middle order will once again rely on the experienced Anustup Majumdar. The 39-year-old veteran batsman, who scored his second century of the campaign, smashing a superb 125 in the last match against Assam, will look to give the Mumbai bowlers a tough challenge.
Skipper Tiwary, who reached the milestone of 10,000 runs in first-class cricket along with his 30th century in the last game, will hope to score more to make his farewell season a one to cherish.
The talented wicketkeeper - batsman Abishek Porel, after his maiden first-class century, will be eager to deliver once again at home.
In the bowling department, the team will rely heavily on Mohammad Kaif and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal to dismantle the visitors' batting line-up.
While Suraj bagged an impressive eight wickets in the previous match, Kaif gave the team the much-needed breakthroughs.
The duo, who have been ruthless with the ball in the ongoing season, will be key to Bengal's chances against a quality Mumbai batting line-up.
Besides the duo, Ishan Porel will come in as a third seamer.
In the spin bowling department, Karan Lal and Ankit Mishra will look to make an all-round impact after a good outing in the previous match.
On the other hand, the visitors, Mumbai, will go into the match after a two-wicket loss against Uttar Pradesh.
Despite their first loss of the campaign, Mumbai sit at the top of the points table with 20 points from four games with three wins so far.
The visitors, although having experienced batsman Rahane and all-rounder Shivam Dube in the team, their batters will surely be put to test against an in-form Bengal pace attack.
With the weather and bad light having the final say in their previous home game, Bengal team will keep their fingers crossed and hope the sky stays clear to force a positive result and grab maximum points out of the game.

CAB MEDIA DESK
Arindam Basu