Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens
Even at the Eden Gardens press box, the buzz was around Virat Kohli. The TV was switched on early. The Bengal versus Punjab Ranji Trophy game here is being live-streamed. The Delhi versus Railways fixture is live on TV.
Overnight Bengal batsman Sumanta Gupta neared his half-century. The attention seemed to be desultory. The anticipation was about Kohli coming out to bat, about a thousand miles away at Feroz Shah Kotla.
As Himanshu Sangwan sent Kohli’s off stump for a walk and the superstar perished for six, the TV was switched off and the focus fully turned to the Bengal game. By then, Gupta was dismissed after scoring an impressive 55 — his maiden first-class half-century. He would be disappointed not to continue, for the batter was looking good for more.
The Kohli-hangover was still on. As Sourav Ganguly checked in at Eden around 2 pm, the question to him was about Kohli’s dismissal. “Ranji Trophy te run koreni, tate ki hoyeche (He didn’t score runs in a Ranji Trophy game. I don’t read too much into it),” the former India captain brushed aside the scrutiny.
From Bengal’s point of view, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal was already the story of the day. A medium-pacer by vocation, he came in as a nightwatchman at the fall of the fourth Bengal wicket yesterday. Early today, he had a reprieve, with Punjab wicketkeeper Anmol Malhotra dropping a fairly regulation catch, when he was on 15. After that, Jaiswal showed grit, refusing to throw his wicket away. His maiden first-class hundred was a fine effort.
The 25-year-old’s career so far has had ups and downs. He played age-group cricket for Bengal and then disappeared. After Saurasish Lahiri became the Bengal U-23 coach, he wanted to bring Jaiswal back to the fold. “In my first year, he wasn’t there. He was included in the squad during my second year in charge. He was performing consistently in club cricket. As Bengal’s (senior team) assistant coach last season, I proposed his name and Jaiswal was given the nod. A very gritty cricketer, he has gone through hardships. It has toughened him up,” Lahiri, the current Bengal U-19 coach, told RevSportz.
Riding on Jaiswal’s hundred, Bengal reached 343 in their first innings, taking a 152-run lead. Abhishek Porel made 52.
At stumps on Day 2, Punjab were 64/3. They need another 88 runs to avoid the innings defeat.
Brief scores: Punjab 191 and 64/3 vs Bengal 343 all out (Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 111, Sumanta Gupta 55, Abhishek Porel 52; Gurnoor Brar 4/74).