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The Cricket Association of Bengal announced their squad for the first two matches of Ranji Trophy 2024-25 on Friday ahead of the new domestic season of Indian cricket. Experienced player Anustup Majumdar will lead the team while Wriddhiman Saha and Sudip Chatterjee to return to play for Bengal.
Both Wriddhiman Saha and Sudip Chatterjee had featured for Tripura in the last few seasons and now have returned to their home state to don the Bengal jersey once again. Though, young wicket-keeper batter Abishek Porel, who impressed one and all in the Duleep Trophy 2024, will also be in the squad, Saha likely to play as a batter in the team.
Since the 2020-21 season, Anustup Majumdar has been the main batter for the team, scoring the most runs for Bengal in the last two seasons (867 in 2022-23 and 510 in the 2023-24 season). He was trusted with the captaincy responsibilities by the selection committee and head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla.
Along with them, the Bengal batting lineup will be boosted with the presence of opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has been in red of form in the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup, scoring three back-to-back tons. Easwaran has been one of the best batters in the Indian domestic circuit in the last 7-8 seasons and Bengal will be hoping to have their best batter in great form when they meet Uttar Pradesh in their first match of the season.
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Sudip Kumar Gharami will be another batter to watch out for from the Bengal team, who after a great 2022-23 season, was not up to the mark in the last season. Moreover, this will be the first season in many years when Bengal will be taking the field without their highest run scorer in Ranji trophy history Manoj Tiwary, who announced his retirement last season.
A few youngsters like Shuvam Dey, who was the highest scorer in first-division cricket, were named in the squad to fill up the big boots left by Manoj Tiwary.
In the middle order, Bengal has called back Writtick Chatterjee, who was superb in the Bengal Pro T20 League and will be a key clog in the team with his off-spin bowling as well. Last year's Mohun Bagan's cricketer of the year, pace bowling all-rounder Avilin Ghosh found a place in the team along with Mohammed Kaif, Mohammed Shami's younger brother.
In the spin bowling department, Aamir Gani has made a return to the first-class arena and he will play a key role alongside Pradipta Pramanik and Shahbaz Ahmed in the team.
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However, it is the pace bowling department, that has been one of the reasons for Bengal's success in the last few seasons. Current India pacers Mukesh Kumar, and Akash Deep will be partnering with young Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, who was the find of the season for Bengal last year.
But, we will have to keep an eye on India U-19 pacer Yudhajit Guha, who played in the India U-19 vs Australia U-19 series. Along with him, Rishabh Vivek can be an ex-factor for the team, who Sportz Point had discovered during a club game last season.
Bengal squad for the first two Ranji Trophy 2024-25 matches
Anustup Majumdar (C), Sudip Gharami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Chatterjee, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Writtick Chatterjee, Abishek Porel (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Shuvam Dey, Avilin Ghosh, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Aamir Gani, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Rohit Kumar, Yudhajit Guha, Md. Kaif, Pradipta Pramanik, Rishabh Vivek.
Bengal's schedule for Ranji Trophy 2024-25
- 11-14 October 2024 | Uttar Pradesh vs Bengal | Lucknow
- 18-21 October 2024 | Bengal vs Bihar | Kolkata
- 26-39 October 2024 | Bengal vs Kerala | Kolkata
- 6-9 November 2024 | Karnataka vs Bengal | Bangalore
- 13-16 November 2024 | Madhya Pradesh vs Bengal | Indore