Bengal Cricket: "One of the most satisfying moments of our career," Deepak Prasad and Jayanta Dutta after making it three-on-three for Shibpur

Shibpur Institute won the CAB second division Championship to promote the team to the first-division in Bengal Cricket.

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Koushik Biswas
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Shibpur Institute finally made it to the first-division league in Kolkata Club Cricket after fighting 9 years in the second division league. Deepak Prasad, a prominent name in Bengal cricket scored tons of runs for them. Meanwhile, Jayanta Dutta, the captain of the side, led the team to their biggest success in last decade. Earlier they had already won the One-day and T20 trophy as well. Both shared their thoughts after winning the Championship at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in an exclusive interview with Sportz Point.

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Deepak Prasad pulling one through the mid-wicket. Image - Sportz Point

"It is one of the best feelings to help a team promote from second division to first division," Jayanta Dutta started the conversation with a huge smile on his face. "Ravi uncle gave me the responsibility to make the team in the last season. We could not do anything due to covid last season. However, we did win trophies. This season as we knew that league will take place, we made the team accordingly. It was a fight for our reputation and we did it," Jayanta Dutta added further.

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Shibpur this season had the services of one of the prominent names of Bengal cricket who played decades in the first division league. Players like Amit Banerjee, who was Man of the match in the final and Amit Biswas along with Shah Rukh, Anup Barick, Raja Yadav all played their part in making it possible for them.

"It felt like family to be honest. There was no discrimination between seniors and juniors. Some of our players came in the team after having played decades in Bengal cricket. So, it helped a lot. Juniors learnt from them as well. From Amit Banerjee, Amit Biswas, Monomit Mitra to Raja Yadav, Anup Barick, Deepak Prasad who should not I thank! They all have been great throughout the season," the captain of the Shibpur team added.

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Meanwhile, Deepak Prasad felt that it is one of his most satisfying moments of his career after playing more than a decade in Kolkata Club cricket. Deepak has been scoring runs for fun in the club cricket in last few years and known for his attacking mindset. However, the league trophy was something that was missing in the last few years.

"Yes, I was scoring runs, but wining the league is something I wanted. We did not look for the trophy. We were focusing on the every match. The main goal was to play good, basic cricket. Meantime we kept on playing good cricket and the result is in front of you," Deepak said.

"The team environment helped. Jayanta da created the environment where everyone played their part. All contributed throughout the season, this helped everyone playing the way we played," Deepak added further.

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Deepak is known for his attacking cricket and range of big shots he has in armory. However, according to him, this is not something that he tries to do, this is something that comes naturally to him. "I always want to play my natural game. This is my nature and I play my best when I am playing my natural game. So, this is not like I am manufacturing something out of the blue," the right-hand batter added.

Although he has won many trophies in club cricket over the years, Deepak believes that promoting one team to first-division is one of the achievements he will always remember. "Obviously when you play division cricket for so many years, you win trophies. But promoting one team to first-division from second division is very satisfying as a player."

Both the players thanked Cricket Association of Bengal and its members for completing all the tournaments despite lots of trouble and hiccups. "I personally want to thank CAB. The way they have completed the whole season is quite remarkable. Outstanding from them," Jayanta Dutta added.

Sportz Point Speaks Bengal Cricket