Players Details
Fixture & Results
Bengal look positive after Laxman boost
28th November 2016
Bengal looks to put the ghost of last two matches behind when they take on mighty Mumbai in Nagpur. Fresh from a two-day session with their batting consultant V V S Laxman, the players are ready to eliminate their mistakes and put up a stellar show.
According to official sources, Laxman saw the video footage of all the players and then sat with them as a team and also individually. In these meetings he talked about how to approach the game, session by session and also hold together individual innings.
Skipper Manoj Tiwary told CAB Media: “Both the days we did nets with Laxman sir as well as class room sessions. It has been a fruitful meeting. He threw a lot of balls at the net and made us play certain shots. He also advised us on how to handle pressure situations both mentally and on the ground. This will come in handy against an opposition like Mumbai.”
Agniv has 238 runs from the five matches he has played so far, but has never converted them to big ones. Talking about his batting, Agniv Pan said: “He gave us a lot of tactical inputs. He showed us where we were going wrong in our batting. He also advised me on how to pace my innings.”
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who got a century in each innings of the first match, has thereafter flattered to deceive. In the next four matches he has managed 126 runs from 8 innings. Asked about his meeting with Laxman, he said: “Laxman Sir sat with me and talked a lot about the game plan for building an innings. He saw my videos and asked me to build on my positives. The session has given me a lot of confidence.”
Abhishek Raman, who showed prime form in C. K Nayudu trophy, is all set to debut when he comes in as an opener with Abhimanyu Easwaran. In that case the axe will probably fall on Pankaj Shaw. Sayan Sekhar Mondal is expected to play lower down the order to give the batting more muscle. Meanwhile, Nagpur has again presented itself with a green turf meaning going probably with three pacers who delivered in the last game--Ashoke Dinda, Amit Kuila and Mukesh Kumar. Sayan will come in as the fourth pacer.
Currently placed in the fifth position, managing only 16 points from 5 matches, Bengal will have to play really well to get advantage over the group toppers Mumbai with 25 off 6.
During the last meeting back in 2014, Bengal had to take a follow on. The match, however, ended in a draw. But this time a similar result would mean Bengal going virtually going out of the tournament.
Bengal will be hoping for good runs from the bat of Tiwary, who leads the Bengal batting with 398 runs, along with Sudip Chatterjee (392), who showed a lot of character batting with injury and getting a century.
CAB MEDIA DESK
Arindam Basu
