Bengal Cricket: The Quarter Final match of the CAB first division qualifier game, between Kalighat Club and Police A.C. has been on stumps on day 2 at the JU second campus ground, Saltlake. Kalighat Club posted a total of 533/5 while Police A.C. is on 117/4 in 36.5 overs at the end of day 2.
From left Shreyansh Ghosh, Ravikant Shukla, and Subham (Raja) Chatterjee
Batting first, Kalighat Club posted a huge total of 533/5 in 126 overs. Subham Chatterjee scored a double ton while Shreyansh scored 125 off 224 balls. Moreover, another quick and important innings by Shukla (87 off 79) helped Kalighat to reach the 500 runs mark.
For Police A.C. Kaushik Maity took two wickets while Kaushik Giri and Abhidipta took one wicket each.
In the run chase of 534 runs, Police A.C. never looked to in the game. On day 2, they batted till the last session of the match and put a total of 117/4 in 36.5 overs on the scorecard. However, they need 417 runs more in 535 balls to win this game. The match will again begin on day 3, June 4, from 10 AM onwards at the JU second campus ground, Saltlake.
The premier domestic competition named after the first Indian cricketer, Ranjitsinhji, who was also known as 'Ranji', was launched in 1934-35 featuring 15 teams in four zones in a knockout format and has since expanded to a 32-team tournament in the league and knockout format.
The first-ever edition was won by Bombay now known as Mumbai, who have also won the Ranji title the most. Record champions Mumbai have won the Ranji Trophy 41 times so far. Mumbai has also reached the final 47 times.
Karnataka earlier played as Mysore is the second most successful team in the Ranji Trophy, having won the title 8 times and finished runners up 6 times followed by Delhi, who have won the title 7 times and finished as runners-up 8 times.
The Ranji Trophy 2024-25 has finally concluded with Vidarbha winning their third Ranji title defeating Kerala in the finals. Let's check out the last 10 winners of the Ranji title.
Ranji Trophy was founded as the 'Cricket Championship of India' at a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in July 1934. The first Ranji Trophy fixtures took place in the 1934-35 season.
Mumbai are the most successful state in Ranji's history, winning 42 titles, including 15 consecutive trophies between 1958 and 1973. Here is the Ranji Trophy winners list since the inaugural season.
Mumbai - The most successful team in the Ranji Trophy
Mumbai with the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy. Image | PTI
Mumbai are the most successful first-class team in Indian domestic cricket across different competitions. They have won the Ranji Trophy title a total of 42 times and also won the inaugural season of this prestigious tournament.
Mumbai won seven out of the first 20 seasons and then between the 1950s and 1970s, they won 20 out of 22 titles in the Ranji Trophy. Mumbai's latest title came in the 2023-24 season.
Karanataka players after winning their second consecutive Ranji Trophy title in 2014-15 season. Image | PTI
After Mumbai, Karnataka have won the most Ranji Trophies (8) followed by Delhi (7), Baroda (5), and Madhya Pradesh (5). Karnataka have been part of the tournament since the inaugural season. They had to wait until the 1973-74 edition to lift their maiden title. Their latest win came in the 2014-15 edition.
Delhi won their maiden Ranji title in 1978-79 and their most recent win came in the 2007-08 edition while Baroda made their first-class debut in 1937 and won their maiden title in 1942-43.
Madhya Pradesh have also won five titles after their debut in the 1941 season. They won their first Ranji title in 1945-46, defeating Baroda in the finals.
"There is nothing as sweet as comeback:" Sayan Ghosh wants to make Ranji Trophy return after white-ball success in 2024-25 season
Sayan Ghosh emerged as the highest wicket-taker for Bengal in both Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. The Bengal pacer now looking for his Ranji Trophy return.
Chakdaha, a very tiny town in the Nadia district of West Bengal, is known to the cricketing world for a very special player. It is Jhulan Goswami, who made Chakdaha famous with fiery spells all around the globe, wearing the Blue jersey of India.
When Jhulan was breaking records in women's cricket, another speedster from Chakdaha dreamt of breaking stumps and records too. Sayan Ghosh, known as Bengal's Malinga, saw ups and downs from the start of his cricketing career. But, like his swinging yorkers, Sayan never swayed away from his targets.
Ghosh last played a Ranji Trophy game way back in 2017. In 6 first-class games, he has two five-wicket hauls. Still, he was never called back to the Ranji Trophy, team until this season. The reason is his incredible comeback into the white ball side for Bengal.
Sayan Ghosh's incredible season in white-ball format
Sayan Ghosh celebrating a wicket in SMAT pre-quarters vs Chandigarh. Image | PTI
Sayan was always called the "White Ball" specialist due to his ability to hit yorkers and variations. However, with bowlers like Mukesh Kumar, Ishan Porel and Akash Deep doing well, he found himself out of the side in the last few seasons. But, his will to keep doing well at the club level, helped him make another comeback to the Bengal side.
This season, Sayan Ghosh was the highest wicket-taker for Bengal in both Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare Trophy tournaments. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, he returned with 13 wickets from 7 games at an outstanding economy rate of 6.77.
Bengal wins the thriller against Chandigarh and marches forward to the semi finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024.
Former KKR bowler Sayan Ghosh was the star of the show as he picked up 4 wickets and defended 11 runs of the final over that helped Bengal come out on top. pic.twitter.com/ZdOl4soLSt
In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the stats were even better as he capped off the season with 15 wickets from 7 games which included a five-wicket haul against Kerala. Post, his outstanding white-ball return, Sayan was included in the Ranji Trophy squad for the final two games of the season.
After his remarkable resurgence in domestic cricket, Sportz Point sat with the 32-year-old pacer to sense his thoughts.
Talking about his return to the Bengal team, Sayan started the conversation by saying, "It is always a pleasure to represent Bengal. And there is nothing as sweet as a comeback when you are down and about to lose. Performing well for the team feels great."
Ex-KKR pacer Sayan Ghosh in action for @Mohun_Bagan
Sayan feels, along with doing well for Mohun Bagan in the club format, the Bengal Pro T20 League has helped him be in the best form possible.
"I must say, performance in BPL gave me confidence," Sayan told Sportz Point.
"I didn’t take too much pressure for the whole season because I knew if I did well, I would play. I had belief in myself. Captain Sudip (Gharami), coaches Laxmi (Ratan Shukla) da and Maco (Shib Shankar Paul) da gave confidence. So, I didn’t take a lot of pressure."
Sayan Ghosh during a club match for Mohun Bagan. Image | Sportz Point
A few seasons back, Sayan had a longer run-up which caused him a few injuries. But, post the 2022 season, he shortened his run-up to avoid such injuries which helped him gain more control. Keeping this in mind, Sportz Point wanted to know if he had done anything special to prepare for this grand comeback.
However, as per Sayan, he just kept doing the basic things over and over to get better at everything. "I do lots of fitness work and spot bowling. It helps me a lot," Sayan added while answering the question.
Regardless of how, for a sportsperson, a comeback is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical battle. Back in 2022, in an exclusive interview with Sportz Point, Sayan shared that "rejections do not deject him."
But, saying that and actually having that mental strength are two different things altogether. For Sayan, it was all about being present and believing in God.
"There comes a time in every sportsman's life when they stop worrying about the outcome, trust in God, and fully immerse themselves in the process. So, that was my thinking just to be in the present and wait for my turn," Sayan expressed.
During tough periods like these, players always get some people clapping and cheering for them. For Sayan, along with his family, there were a few people, who guided and supported him throughout the process.
"Maco da (Shib Shankar Paul) and Kanchan (Maity) da gave me chances in BPL And Laxmi (Ratan Shukla) da helped me and gave me a chance to come back in Bengal Cricket."
"I must say about Akash da, one of my colleagues in my office, who is a very good bowler himself. He supported me in every aspect of my life. I think without his support, I could not have made the come back like that," Sayan stated.
Age? Not a problem
Sayan Ghosh before a club match for Mohun Bagan. Image | Sportz Point
But, in this process of being in and out of the team, Sayan has reached an age where most cricketers start to reach the end of their careers. But, not all.
Cricketers like Scott Boland have proved that, if you can keep putting in the hard work, even as a fast bowler you can debut and play at the highest level even after 30. Sayan believes that too.
"Hope keeps us alive. I don’t think a lot about the outcome. But, when you have a goal to achieve something big in your professional career, you always stay motivated," the 32-year-old shared.
"There is nothing as sweet as a comeback, when you are down and about to lose. If you are thinking about a comeback, you have to keep pushing the boundaries. I have small targets to do well in club cricket and give Mohunbagan trophies. I want to make a strong impact in Bengal Cricket in every format."
Sayan Ghosh bowling in a club match. Image | Sportz Point
Now, after a great white-ball return, Sayan Ghosh wants to don the whites for Bengal again. Amidst all the success around white-ball cricket, his love for red-ball cricket remained the same; like a 10-year-old with a new ball in hand.
"We are playing well in all formats, especially in the Ranji trophy. It was unfortunate for us not to qualify despite playing well in the group stages. The Bihar match and the Kerala match were gone because of the rain and that was the reason (we could not qualify).
"The last time I played a Ranji Trophy game was in 2017. I have played 6 matches and got two five-wicket hauls. However, because of certain team combinations, I haven't played red-ball cricket in a long time now.
"My belief is always there to make a strong comeback in red ball cricket."
How Technology is Revolutionizing Cricket and Football Training
Modern technologies have often significantly impacted sports, especially benefitting two of the most popular sports, Cricket and Football. Sportz Point explores how technology revolutionized cricket and football training.
Technology is quickly changing how players train in football and cricket, transforming conventional practices for these games and it is redefining human performance.
The role of technology in these two popular sports is visible, from relying on sensors which monitor all activity; to virtual reality simulations that aid decision-making,
In recent years, technology has become smaller, more robust, and versatile, and thus new opportunities, especially in sports, have emerged. At the moment, updates are provided through smartphones, wearable functionality is used to avoid injury, GPS is used to track movement, and players are outfitted with sensors that send real-time information to a coach's device.
This article addresses the state-of-the-art equipment and approaches that are changing the paradigm of training, player development, and the game itself.
How Technology is Changing Cricket and Football Training
1. Wearable Technology
Whoop, a wearable fitness device worn by athletes. (Image Credit | The Indian Express)
Trainers can invoke sensors wired to the body or some portion of "smart clothing" for measurement and monitoring in real-time. The real-time displays can be used to help the trainer determine what every sportsperson should push more. During training practice, trainers can use real-time measures to inform when to stretch, rest, or make training more challenging.
Laser and GPS are both being used more and more in different aspects of sports preparation. Instead of looking only at times and splits, coaches can measure athletes' exact position, distance, velocity, and acceleration, to better analyze their areas of improvement.
2. Video Analysis Tools
(Image Credit | SkySports)
Modern-day football is becoming faster and more tactical. Athletes have to acquire both their athleticism and tactical awareness to enhance their decision-making process in the course of play. Video analysis is used for both individual and team tactical development.
In football, video analysis usually consists of a careful analysis and examination of game matches, practice, and player activity, to assess player performance, tactics, and strategies. Advanced technologies such as wearable tracking units and video analysis techniques are used in the process of achieving these things to capture and analyze critical elements of data, e.g., player location, combinations of teams, and player movements.
Video analysis can be used by coaches, analysts, and players to obtain a more complete picture of what goes on around the ball by giving a graphical representation of the game happening around them.
Video analysis can help a group of individuals to recognize the points of improvement, e.g., to enhance the winning approach and cope with different match situations effectively as the tool between the raw performance data and useful insights.
3. Virtual Reality (VR) Training
(Image Credit | The Telegraph)
Virtual Reality (VR) applications have been of considerable interest in many high-performance and entertainment applications over the past few years with advances in technology, increased availability, and the mobility of VR systems.
More precisely, by embedding environmental constraints within an interactive virtual space, VR can also be used to train in motor, mental, and cognitive skills, strategy, and tactics.
VR offers promising novel solutions to many professional high-pressure, high-skill environments, especially for the training, and learning of difficult skills in otherwise expensive and/or hazardous settings. When properly used, VR provides complete control over the training environment, including cues and challenges, along with safe and reproducible training tasks.
Because of this, it is designated as a promising instrument, which could help increase athletes' performance.
4. Biomechanical Analysis
(Image Credit | jpmer.com)
The scientific study of biomechanics focuses on the physics and mechanics of how organisms move. In its general sense, it may include anything from knowing how a dancer entirely moves the whole body to the microscopic muscle cell-level response and observing the posture of an active horse.
Biomechanics is a narrower area in sports, which can offer helpful input to sportsmen, trainers, and sports medicine professionals who can help to enhance performance and decrease the chance of injury.
All of these biomechanical tests, including poor kinematics, rotational forces in specific joints, muscle imbalances, fatigue monitoring, and the quality of the movement being rehabilitated, may be detected.
5. Data Analytics
(Image Credit | Mad About Sports)
Data analytics has optimized athletes' performance by identifying previously unknown factors and related events. Those actions include, for example, leg motion, dive angle, rotational speed, and fluid motion.
Trainers can help players to successfully use this type of sophisticated movement tracking. If it is on the order of milliseconds, it can be the deciding factor for a race win or loss.
6. Recovery Technology
(Image Credit | DigitalDefynd)
A significant reduction in injury levels and faster detection times demonstrates how technology greatly benefits sports training. Performance monitoring, movement processing, and improving communication are not only advantages but also contribute to making less susceptible environments.
Trainers and coaches can use training management software to monitor the specific training-based elements related to, for example, energy, nutrition, and sleep, that constitute the training process. Individualization of practices by trainers or coaches to optimize results helps prevent fatigue and self-inflicted injuries.
Besides the unavoidable external factors, injury-free sports may eventually be realized as a future scenario.
7. Communication and Collaboration Tools
(Image credit | Faster Capital)
Training communication has been enhanced by tools such as YouTube. YouTube contains millions of minutes of exercise and entertainment that are available to, and easily shared by anyone.
Physicists, especially in the area of sport and motor control, need to put much more emphasis on teaching sport and motor control with play debates or footage from films for their continuing education.1 Athletes and coaches can load and view the required films during sports practice or leisure time.
Other communication technologies have further been developed, namely My Fitness Pal, computer or mobile-phone journals on food and exercise, and personal digital health. My Fitness Pal enables trainers to monitor athletes' everyday diets, and players would be responsible for their training.
Bengal Ranji Team in Last Three Seasons: 13 opening combinations, 22 debutants and many more numbers
Bengal Ranji Team since playing the final in 2022-23 season has not been able to reach the knockouts in last two occasions. Here are the numbers to look out from the last three seasons.
Since winning the Ranji Trophy in the 1989-90 season, when a player named Sourav Ganguly debuted for them in the final, Bengal have not been able to win the domestic title till now. From 2005 to 2007 they dominated the domestic circuit but came second twice in two seasons.
The last time they played in the Ranji Trophy knockouts was in the 2022-23 season when they lost against Saurashtra on their turf in Kolkata.
Post that final at Eden Gardens, two seasons have gone by and Bengal's quest for another Ranji Trophy title continued. In the 2024-25 season, they even failed to make it to the knockouts after average performances in the red ball format despite having a few national team players in action for them.
Despite winning the final league match vs Punjab, Bengal failed to qualify for the knockouts of Ranji Trophy 2024-25. Image | CAB
In the last few years, Bengal Cricket have been accused of multiple issues such as a lack of home-grown talents, reports of age frauds and outstation players finding it easier to make themselves local players, reports of corruption in the second division and many more.
Today, we will not cater to those areas of Bengal cricket. Rather, we will have a deep analysis of what has happened within the team.
We will dig deep into numbers to analyze and discuss what might have gone wrong in the last three seasons for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy.
Keep in mind, that we have only taken the Ranji Trophy format and data into consideration. We will discuss the white-ball numbers in a different article soon.
Numbers and More: Bengal Ranji Team in Last Three Seasons
Here are a few findings from the last three seasons of the Bengal Ranji Team, collected by Sportz Point via BCCI.tv and ESPNCricinfo.
#1 | 13 opening combinations in three seasons
Ankit Chatterjee during his debut game in Kalyani.
This has been the main pain point for Bengal in the last few seasons; the opening slot. Though they have the services of one of the Best domestic players in Abhimanyu Easwaran, they have found it hard to find a suitable partner for him.
Moreover, whenever Easwaran goes to any National team duty or India-A games, Bengal have not been able to replace him as well.
In the last three seasons, Bengal have gone for as many as 13 opening combinations. In the 2024-25 season, they had 4 different opening combinations. In the 2023-24 season, the number was 3 and in the 2022-23 season, the number was 6.
From the above list, it is quite obvious that Laxmi Ratan Shukla and the management have not been able to find a great opening pair which can last for a whole season.Though Sudip Kumar Gharami started as an opener, since he settled in at number three, Bengal has tried to use him only in that position.
Only the pair of Sourav Paul & Shreyansh Ghosh got five matches in a row in 2023-24 and the rest of them did not get that many consecutive matches to open as a pair. Yes, the availability of Abhimanyu Easwaran made that a bit tough as well.
Sumit Mohanta was the latest player to make debut for Bengal in first-class cricket. Image | CAB
Bengal team management gave first-class debut caps to as many as 22 players in the last three seasons, which largely speaks about the inconsistency this team has had.
Even if we clear out the accusations of having "club quotas" in less important games, we have a few interesting numbers to present.
In the last three seasons, only Manoj Tiwary retired from all forms of cricket and we had Wriddhiman Saha and Sudip Chatterjee moving to Tripura to play first-class cricket. Besides that, players like Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep constantly stay busy with the national team setup.
Now, if you calculate the number of injuries to players like Ishan Porel and Shahbaz Ahmed, along with the different demands of the first-class arena, 22 debutants is a large number which can point to many distinct sections of the selection process.
Regardless of many arising questions in the Kolkata Club Cricket section, all of these 22 players performed quite well in Club cricket and age-level cricket to earn those selections. But, surely, the team combinations lacked consistency.
Players who made first-class debuts in the last three seasons for Bengal
#3 | 8 debutants played only one game in the last three seasons
Subham Chatterjee is one of those 8 debutants who played only one game in last three seasons. Image | CAB
When any team select any player, there is something they see beyond the numbers. Numbers matter but the experience and gut feeling of those selectors matter more.
But, in the case of Bengal, we have seen a lack of faith in those talents. 8 out of those 22 debutants played only one game in a season. If you discount the debuts of Sumit Mohanta and Vishal Bhati, who debuted in the last game of this season, the number is six.
Below are the players who played only one game after making debuts for Bengal in first-class since the 2022-23 season -
#4 | 17 players played two or fewer matches since the 2022-23 season
Habib Gandhi is another player who did not get a chance post his debut. Image | CAB
Here arises the question of consistency again. It might be the case of selectors or team management moving from one player to another quickly or players not impressing them enough in two games. But, a staggering17 players have played two or fewer first-class matches in the last three seasons.
Again, we should cut the names of Ankit Chatterjee, Sumit Mohanta and Vishal Bhati from the consideration since they made debuts in the last two or final games of this current season.
Players to have played two or fewer matches in the last three seasons
Sudip Gharami and Anustup Majumdar batting together in Bengal vs Baroda 2022-23 Ranji Trophy match in Kalyani.
If we take out the numbers of Bengal's top order batters, only Anustup Majumdar,Sudip Kumar Gharami and Abhimanyu Easwaran have scored the most runs for them in the last three seasons.
Bengal played the Ranji Trophy final in the 2022-23 season when all three scored more than 700 runs in a season, which was pivotal to Bengal's success. Shahbaz Ahmed and Abishek Porel played a few fighting knocks down the order for them, but that has not been good enough to turn the tables so far.
However, in the last two seasons, both Anustup and Gharami have not been able to continue that form and that was visible in the Bengal's results column.
Bengal players with the most runs in the last three seasons
2024-25
Sudip Chatterjee - 441 at 55.12
Sudip Gharami - 331 at 41.37
Anustup Majumdar - 228 at 28.50
2023-24
Anustup Majumdar 510 at 63.75
Abishek Porel 377 at 41.88
Abhimanyu Easwaran 337 at 168.50
2022-23
Anustup Majumdar 867 at 61.92
Sudip Gharami 803 at 50.18
Abhimanyu Easwaran 798 at 66.50
#6 | Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal - The Lone Warrior
Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal has been Bengal's highest wicket-taker in last two Ranji Trophy Seasons. | Image - CAB
Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal has been Bengal's only shining star in the last two seasons since making his debut in the 2023-24 season. The medium pacer took advantage of Ishan Porel's injury and the absence of Indian stars like Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar and came out as Bengal's best performer.
Jaiswal took 31 wickets in 6 games in his first season and followed that up with 29 scalps in the next season. In both seasons, he was the highest wicket-taker for Bengal.
Not only that, he also scored his maiden first-class ton this season, showing his all-round skill.
Other than him, no Bengal player could make a name for himself in the last two seasons. Do not be surprised if Suraj gets a maiden India-A call-up soon as well.
Most wickets for Bengal since Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal's debut
2024-25
Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 6 matches 29 wickets
Mohammed Kaif 5 matches 17 wicktes
2023-24
Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 6 matches 31 wickets
Mohammed Kaif 6 matches 17 wickets
What future holds for Bengal Ranji Team?
Bengal Ranji Trophy captain Anustup Majumdar and head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla during a practice session. Image | CAB
There is no doubt that Bengal has one of their greatest players Laxmi Ratan Shukla as their head coach. But, with too many changes and chops within the team, it is high time that the team management shows faith in homegrown talents and gives them a long run at a first-class level.
However, the most important thing would be that players raise their hands and perform at the domestic level. Players like Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal can be exemplary for them to learn and turn opportunities into success.
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