Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
More cricket away from the spotlight! The second round of Ranji Trophy league phase begins on Saturday. Bengal take on Gujarat in a Group C match at Eden Gardens and the stakes will be high. Performance here doesn’t get headlines, but runs made and wickets taken are taken seriously by the selectors. There are a few in both teams keen to do that.
Talking about India aspirants, foremost is Mohammed Shami. The veteran fast bowler answered questions on fitness by bowling 39.3 overs and taking seven wickets across two innings in Bengal’s eight-wicket win over Uttarakhand in the opening game. He was named Player of the Match. Shami was asked before that whether he had conveyed his fitness update to the national selectors. The Bengal quick had said that’s not his job and did what his job is — take wickets.
For 14 overs in the first innings against Uttarakhand at Eden, Shami was wicketless. He took three in one over and four more in the second innings. Shami on song is difficult to handle on a pitch offering something to the faster bowlers. That is Bengal’s strength and they will once again expect assistance from the surface. Shami will lead a four-pronged pace attack also featuring Akash Deep, Ishan Porel and the fast upcoming Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal. That’s a formidable attack in helpful conditions.
“Shami is our inspiration,” said Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran a day before the match. “One doesn’t have to look too far. In our team itself we have a motivation in Shami. We all know what he is capable of and how he bowled in the previous match.” Laxmi Ratan Shukla, the Bengal coach, felt the pitch would assist the faster bowlers without naming anybody. “It’s a decent pitch and there seems to be some carry in it. Fast bowlers should enjoy this.”
Bengal have received a boost in the return of Shahbaz Ahmed, who was out injured. The left-handed all-rounder, who bowls spin, has been a pillar of this team. He will replace Vishal Bhati. Easwaran made an unbeaten half-century in the second innings of the previous match. Sudip Chatterjee and Sumanta Gupta got runs in the first essay. This Bengal side looks balanced enough to challenge any side, with a bit of a worry over batting.
Gujarat are worthy opponents. It’s a young lot, which lost last season’s semifinal in bizarre manner, when last man Arzan Nagaswalla’s shot hit the helmet of the silly point fielder and the rebound was caught at first slip. Gujarat fell two short of Kerala’s first-innings total and that decided the match. They have begun this season on a steady note, by taking three points thanks to the first-innings lead against Assam in Ahmedabad.
Led by Manan Hingrajia, they are missing opener Priyank Panchal, who has called it a day. Abhishek Desai didn’t let his absence be felt though, by making 96 on Ranji debut against Assam. It earned him the Player of the Match award. Gujarat’s batters don’t have great averages, but they have handy contributors in the skipper, Jaymeet Patel, Urvil Patel and Aarya Desai, the other opener. They may have to tweak their combination and add to the pace-bowling arsenal where Nagaswalla is the only experienced hand.
“A team which has Easwaran, Shami and Akash Deep has to be taken seriously,” said Ravi Bishnoi, Gujarat’s outstation professional from Rajasthan. “We respect them. We will fight with what we have,” said the leg-spinner. Not a lot of fans may follow, but Eden Gardens is in for a potentially gripping contest over the next four days. What’s at stake? Let time determine.
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