A red-hot Bengal will have a chance to claim their first Ranji Trophy title in 33 years when they face Saurashtra, bolstered by the return of pacer and domestic game heavyweight Jaydev Unadkat, in the summit clash in Kolkata from Thursday. (More Cricket News)
Bengal will not just be hungry to win the title, but revenge will also be on their mind. The la🐻st time Bengal made the final in 2020, Saurashtra had won the title on the basis of first innings lead at their home turf in Rajkot.
Both the teams are set to cross swords in a Ranji final again, th🌱is time at Eden Gardens, a venue where Bengal had won t🍰heir last Ranji Trophy way back in 1990.
It's not that Bengal have been underperforming. They have been on an upward curve♍ since the 2019-20 season, making🧔 it to the semifinals three times on the trot. They have played two finals in this period. In between, the 2020-21 season was abandoned because of COVID-19 pandemic.
The likes of opening batter Abhimanyu Easwaran, all-rounder Shahbaz A🌜hmed and pacer Mukesh Kumar, who have been in the national rada🃏r for quite some time, are well aware that a title at the biggest stage of the domestic level could be a career-changing feat.
Pacer Akash Deep, with 37 wickets from nine matches, has been in red-hot form this season, while youngster Sudip Gharmi has come of age as their second hi💎ghest run-getter (789 runs).
Bengal's main strength in the rece⛦nt past has been its pace bowling and the troika of Akash Deep, Ishan Porel and Mukesh Kumar would look to exploit the Eden green-top.
But against a Saurashtra team that is bolstered by the return of lef▨t-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat from the national side, the onus would be on the Bengal batters to give the winning edge by taking a first innings lead.
ONUS ON BENGAL BATTERS
By his standards, Bengal's batting mainstay Abhimanyu is yet to come out on t🃏op form this seasonꦉ in crucial matches and he would hope to give his best in the final.
Veteran Anustup Majumdar has been Bengal's crisis man and the leading scorer for them with 790 runs, while it would be another test of character for the 23-year-old Ghar💧am🐟i.
Much credit is also due to their inspirational ski෴pper Manoj Tiwary who returned to lead the side after ♉three years to take Bengal to the final with his senior teammate Laxmi Ratan Shukla, now the Bengal head coach.
Tiwary, who is also the state sports minister, is 167 runs shy of a personal milestone of 10,000 runs in first-class 🙈cricket. He may not have been prolific with the bat (398 runs) but his astute captaincy and maturity has worked well for the side.
🐲"I'm not thinking abo💞ut milestones. Speaking from experience, whenever you have a milestone in mind the focus shifts," Tiwary said at the media interaction.
"The 𒈔focus is on the present situation. My aim is to give a m🧔atch winning contribution, be it 40 or 50, to ensure a first innings lead and take it forward. We are just thinking of it as just another match -- not seeing it as the final."
Tiwary further said hi🌄s team is not eyeing for 'revenge'.
"Saurashtrꦓa beating us is past. We are focused on the present situation and at the moment it looks good for B🎃engal cricket," he said.
"We don't want to take this word. To achieve this, obviously you have to beat them in the skill set, in tactics and strategy. We can say we have taken revenge after defeating them.&qꦜuꦍot;
Asཧked whether Bengal are wary of Saurashtra's left-arm pacers, Tiwary said: "We are carrying two left-arm pacers and called some cluღb cricketers who bowl left-handed. All bases are covered preparation-wise."
LEFT-ARM PACERS, SAURASHTRA'S X-FACTORS
For the visitors, the two left-arm pacers in domes👍tic veteran Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya would be t꧒heir X-Factors.
Unadkat, who led Saurashtra to the Ranji 🃏title in 2020 and the Vijay Hazare triumph this season, was released from the national team and he would look to swing it in his team's favour.
Un𓆉adkat made it clear that Bengal can't just walk away with their pace bowling strength on the Eden green-top pitch.
"One thing I will make sure is that, it's a challenge for batters for both the sides. It won't just be a challenge for Saurashtra batters," Unadk💜at warned.
"If it's a challenge for our batters, then it would be a ꧟challenge for th👍eir batters as well."
He said the summit clash woulꦜd 𓆉be an even contest where both the teams' bowlers would be on top at times.
"But the batte👍rs would also have a considerable𒁃 role to play, given that there is bounce on the wicket and the outfield is fast.
"If it's going to be difficult, it's going to be difficult for both sides. if it's not, not for both sides,⛄" he signed 🍸off.
