George Telegraph, Aryan Club and Mohammedan Sporting signed their players for the upcoming season in Kolkata Club Cricket. Mohammedan, who is one of the maidan giants for a long, now looks to win trophies. Meanwhile, 100-years old George Telegraph and Aryan Club focus to redeem their reputation in Bengal cricket.
Geroge Telegraph this season have made their squad comprising some excellent hard-hitters and experienced players. The team has been made by their cricket secretary Anirban Sinha and they will be led by Arun Mallick. Arun has been playing first-division cricket for more than 10 years now and is extremely proud to lead the team. With the team they have made, they will make any team go for a run. In fact, they can be a huge surprise to any of the maidan giants when it comes to white-ball cricket.
On the other hand, Aryan, who is one of the oldest clubs of Kolkata maidan, has shown faith in youngsters again. However, they have some excellent performers and experienced cricketers to bridge the gap between youth and experience. Rajarshi Mitra, Bengal U-25 player, who has signed for the 5th year for Aryan feels they have a much stronger team this season to beat bigger teams to win trophies.
“According to me, as a player, I think last year we did not have that many services of experienced players when it came to beating the bigger teams. I feel you need senior players along with young players to beat bigger teams and win trophies. This year, I feel we have mostly covered every base. Hoping for a great season ahead,” Rajarshi told Sportz Point in an exclusive interview.
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Along with Rajarshi, they have Priyank Bengani, Sayan Mukherjee and other maidan stars in their squad to turn the fortunes back to them.
But, with all the changes in the transfer window, it was Mohammedan Sporting who won all the battles winning three Mohun Bagan, and one Bhawanipore player for their upcoming season. Jayojit Basu, Nilkantha Das and Gitimoy Basu joined them from Mohun Bagan. Both Jayojit and Nilkantha feel this is a new challenge for them.
“I have won everything there was to win for Mohun Bagan. I think this is a new challenge for me. And, I hope to win more here with Mohammedan,” said Jayojit. “Look. it has never been about individual things. This is a team game and I try to make sure how the team can win,” he added.
Meanwhile, Nilkantha Das, the Bengal pacer who played for 8 years for Mohun Bagan said, “The new team management did not show any interest in me. Meantime, I had the offer from Mohammedan and East Bengal also. As I had confirmed Mohammedan first, I signed for them.”
“Look, the stats are there to show. Everyone knows how many wickets I have taken over the last decade. I was chosen as the best player of India in 2008-09 and then somehow I was overlooked. It does not matter, I want to keep performing till the time I play,” Das added.
Along with them, Mohammedan brought in Bengal pacer Alok Pratap Singh and Railways batter Aviijit Singh Rajput, who is currently injured and will need at least 3-4 months to recover fully. With Alok and Nilakantha in the squad, the pace battery for them looks solid as it can be. Sambit Roy also signed for them this season.
Last year’s T20 finalists, Tapan Memorial signed former RCB star and youngest payer in the history of IPL, Prayas Ray Barman. Along with him, they also went for Bengal U-25 batter Sonu Naubagh who had a good outing with Paikpara last season. Sonu feels, “this is an opportunity for me to play for bigger teams and do well. I know if I can do well for them, I can be close to my dream of playing for the Bengal team. I am now focused to learn from superstars like Shahbaz Ahmed and do well for the team and Bengal.”
Tapan Memorial already have Bengal and RCB player, Shahbaz Ahmed in their squad. So, they look a stronger side on paper to win some trophies this season.
A full-fledged interview with Prayas Ray Barman will be coming on Sportz Point. Keep an eye on our interviews section for that.
