Desperate to shrug off controversies that dogged the team during their pre-season tour of Sri Lanka, a circumspect Bengal will take on the formidable defending champions Karnataka in the second round Ranji Trophy group leg encounter in Bengaluru on Thursday.
While Bengal didn’t play in the opening round, winner of last two editions of Ranji Trophy, Karnataka were made to toil hard by minnows Assam before they managed a point from the game.
On familiar home turf R. Vinay Kumar would expect that his boys would produce a commanding performance against the visitors.
For Bengal, under Manoj Tiwary, who has replaced Laxmi Ratan Shukla as the captain, it will be a challenge to get the team together and play consistently which has been their bane.
They were nearly relegated before Wriddhiman Saha’s knock saved their day against Madhya Pradesh during last edition.
This was after they reached semifinal, the season before.
The good news for Bengal is that they would have Wriddhiman, fit from his hamstring injury, back in the playing XI. The two batsmen, who can make a difference for Bengal are skipper Tiwary and left-handed Sudeep Chatterjee.
Shukla himself is a vital cog as his batting at No 6 or 7 and the handy seam bowling is something that Bengal would require.
Shreevats Goswami at the top of the order is an another impact even though good innings have been far and few for the pint-sized former India U-19 wicketkeeper.
A debut can be expected in the Bengal ranks as off-break bowler Aamir Gani, who played for India during last year’s U-19 World Cup. Ditto for club level veteran Naved Ahmed if he is preferred over Partha Sarathi Bhattacharjee.
The bowling department will be handled by veteran India discards Ashoke Dinda and Pragyan Ojha. For Ojha, Bengal’s Ranji campaign will be a sort of comeback vehicle for the former Hyderabad left—arm spinner, who has 100 plus Test wickets. One among Veer Pratap Singh and Sourav Sarkar will share the new ball with Dinda.
While there were adverse report by Bengal team;’s administrative manager Debabrata Das during preparatory tour of Sri Lanka citing conflicts between Shukla and Dinda, it will be there to see how they can fight for Bengal’s cause under new coach Sairaj Bahutule.
For Karnataka, last season’s heavy scorers Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair will also be itching to notch up big scores, before the team settles down.
CM Gautham also will like to have some runs under his belt, especially after failed in the first innings and scoring crucial 44 runs in the secon against Assam.
While batting has been a bit of concern for the home side, bowling has been up to the mark in the season opener.
The Vinay Kumar-led bowling attack roared back after Karnataka were bundled out for a paltry 187 in the first innings, skittling out Assam for 194.
