Bengal batters Abhimanyu Easwaran and Abishek Porel fought hard with the bat as India B and India C crawled their way back on the second day of the Duleep Trophy 2024, Day 3 in Ananthapur. Abhimanyu Easwaran, the India B captain, who had scored an unbeaten 157 in the last match, scored his 25th first-class ton against India D. On the other hand, young wicket-keeper batter Abishek Porel scored a quick 82 from 113 balls to keep India C in the game against India A.

Abhimanyu Easwaran's century keeps India B in the game!

Bengal's Abhimanyu Easwaran bagged his second consecutive century in the Duleep Trophy 2024. Easwaran scores a stunning 116 off 170 against India D in the first innings including 13 fours and a six.

The talented opener, who has been toiling hard in domestic cricket, scored his 25th ton in first-class cricket. The 29-year-old cricketer has 29 half-centuries in first-class as well. 

Easwaran, who missed earning the India cap in India's last tour to England, where he was out due to COVID-19 and Shubman Gill fixed his place in the team before he could make a return to the team. Now, with Gil struggling in the red-ball format, many pundits are asking for Easwaran's test call-up. 

At the end of the second day, India B are at 210/6 in 58 overs chasing India D's 349 in the first inning. India B still trailing by 139 runs.

Read Also | Exclusive Abishek Porel: Competition in the team, love for Hardik Pandya, plans for IPL 2024 and future goals 

Abishek Porel's knock of 82 saves India C

Another Bengal batter  Abishek Porel impressed one and all with an impressive knock of 82 off 113 balls for India C against India A. The 21-year-old youngster however could not complete his first Duleep Trophy ton as he was dismissed while going for a big shot against Shams Mulanii.

Porel sustained the first innings of India C along with Baba Indrajith after the team faced an early collapse of 41/4 in just 15 overs. 

Abishek Porel has maintained an average of 42.50 in the Duleep Trophy 2024 and has been one of the best young players in the tournament so far.

India C finished their day 3 at 216/7 in 64 overs in the first innings chasing India A' 297 in 90.5 overs in the first innings. They are currently trailing by 81 runs. 

Abhimanyu Easwaran was named the captain of the India A team for the tour of England as the BCCI announced the India A squad for the upcoming tour starting from 30th May 2025. 

India A will play two first-class matches against the England Lions at Canterbury and Northampton. Then they will play a practice match against the senior Indian team to prepare them for the big series against England. 

Karun Nair was rewarded for his excellent domestic form as he made a return to the India A side. His performance for the A side might decide whether he will be given a chance for the senior team or not.

Abishek Porel, who was named in the last India A's tour to Australia, has been replaced by Ishan Kishan in the side.

Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, who will be busy in the Indian Premier League for the Gujarat Titans, will join the squad from the second match. 

India A squad for the England tour

India A squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (VC) (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey

India A' schedule for the England tour

Despite valiant efforts from Bengal Ranji captain Anustup Majumdar, Bhowanipur defeated Kalighat by a huge margin of 258 runs in the semi-final of the C.A.B. First Division League Championship on Saturday at J.U. Second Campus Ground in Kolkata. On the other hand, East Bengal won the Kolkata derby at the Videocon Ground by defeating Mohun Bagan by 77 runs to reach the final of the tournament. 

Bhawanipore win despite Anustup's 154

Chasing down Bhowanipur's mammoth 618-run target looked impossible from the start of the second inning for Kalighat. But when you have someone like Anustup Majumdar in your dressing room, you can hope for a miracle. But, that was not to be for Kalighat Club as despite a valiant 154 from 190 balls from the Bengal captain, Bhowanipur managed a huge 258-run win to enter the final. 

At the end of Day 2, Kalighat were at 188/2 and needed 430 runs in 552 balls to complete a historical chase. Anustup Majumdar was at the crease on 107 from 127 balls along with Subham Chatterjee, who was one of their best batters in the tournament so far. 

But, as soon as Rajkumar Pal opened the gate for Bhowanipur by dismissing Subham early on day 3, everything looked out of reach for Kalighat. Rajkumar then removed Kalighat's hero of the quarterfinal, Writam Porel, to make it a one-man battle for Kalighat. 

Arun Chaprana tried his best with his 32 off 35 balls, but Pradipta Pramanik proved to be too good for him. Pradipta then played the decisive move of the match by dismissing Anustup Majumdar on 154 to go one step closer to the final. 

Left-arm pacer Ravi Kumar then broke through the lower middle order, to make sure the defending champion would en route to defend their title in the mega final as Kalighat were bundled out for 359. Ravi Kumar with 66/4 was the pick of the bowlers for Bhowanipur along with Pradipta Pramanik, who took 3 wickets for 75. 

Abhimanyu Easwaran was named the player of the match for his 149 in the first inning. Shakir Habib Gandhi and Vivek Singh were the other centurions for them.

Read Also | Bengal Cricket: 7 U-19 cricketers from Bengal who can play for India in future

East Bengal win the Kolkata derby despite Suvankar Bal's 148

In the second semi-final, Mohun Bagan were chasing East Bengal's steep 410-run target. But at 146/5 at the end of day 2, their fate depended on Suvankar Bal's bat. Bal had already crossed his fifty, but needed a good partner at the other end to support him. 

Vikas Singh did his best by building a 77-run partnership for the sixth wicket. But after Writtick Chatterjee dismissed him on 37, Bal had to build another partnership under the scorching heat at the Videocon Ground, in Kolkata. Sourav Halder then played a handy knock of 48 off 88 balls to shift the game towards Mohun Bagan a bit, with Suvankar Bal smashing bowlers from the other end. 

Bal completed his hundred in 229 balls, and with four wickets in hand, it was all about East Bengal getting his wicket or him taking Mohun Bagan over the line. But East Bengal bowler Shreyan Chakraborty did the trick for East Bengal by first breaking the partnership and dismissing Sourav Halder. 

Shreyan then picked up Anurag Tiwari's wicket to make Bal feel helpless at the other end. Rohit Kumar's run out meant Bal had no other option but to go for the biggies. Shreyan then picked up Bal's wicket to send East Bengal to the final. 

Bal's valiant 148 went in vain as Mohun Bagan lost the semi-final by 77 runs. Shreyan Chakraborty with 67/4 was the pick of the bowlers for East Bengal. Sandipan Das won the player of the match for his unbeaten 108 in the first inning. Satyaki Dutta were the other centurion for East Bengal in the match.

The final will be played at the Eden Gardens after the completion of IPL 2025.

East Bengal's Satyaki Dutta scored a stunning century to help the Red and Gold Ultras post 310/6 on day 1 of the Kolkata Derby in C.A.B. First Division Championship semi-final on Thursday at Videocon Ground. 

Game in balance despite Satayki's ton

East Bengal captain Writtick Chatterjee won the toss and decided to bat first in a high-voltage match like the Kolkata derby, where winning the bragging rights is more than anything. But, his decision was struck by an unfortunate run out of opener Abhisek Das, who was set on 26 off 44 balls. 

But post the first wicket, Arindam Ghosh and Satyaki Dutta, East Bengal's highest run scorer last season, took the initiative to put up a solid platform for the other batters to cash in. 

Satyaki Dutta returned to the dressing room after a great knock of 107 off 137 balls. Vikas Singh broke the 162-run partnership for Mohun Bagan to make a comeback in the match. 

Read Also | Bengal Cricket Exclusive: "We all know this game can make us heroes to the fans," East Bengal's Satyaki Dutta ahead of Kolkata Derby

At 194/2, East Bengal were all set to put up a huge score in the first inning. But Mohun Bagan struck back with back-to-back wickets. Vikash Singh dismissed East Bengal captain Writtick Chatterjee, and just when East Bengal tried to build another big partnership, Sourav Halder dismantled Arindam Ghosh's stumps after his 78 off 229 balls. 

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Agniv Pan tried to score some quick runs and bring the momentum to East Bengal, but Halder dismissed him after 21 off 27 balls to bring the game in balance. Former Mumbai Indians batter Amitoze Singh also departed after 8 off 17, and East Bengal now will depend on Sandipan Das and Shreyan Chakraborty to take them over 400 on day 2. 

Sandipan Das is currently unbeaten on 45 off 86 balls while Shreyan is batting on 8 off 19. For Mohun Bagan, Vikash Singh was the pick of the bowlers with 45/2 in 21 overs. 

In the other semi-final at  J.U. 2nd Campus Ground in Salt Lake, Bhowanipur dominated Kalighat bowlers by scoring 348/4 on day 1. Bhowanipur captain Abhimanyu Easwaran won the toss and decided to bat first. And, he made sure he himself proved his decision right. 

Abhishek Raman (41 off 63) gave a solid opening start with his Bengal opening partner Easwaran. But Kalighat made a quick comeback in the match after dismissing Jayojit Basu on a duck. 

Read Also | Bengal Cricket Exclusive: "My time will come," confident Habib Gandhi after 168 in first division quarter-final

Post that, it was all about the 243-run partnership between Abhimanyu Easwaran and Shakir Habib Gandhi. Easwaran returned to the dressing room after a solid 149 off 208 balls. Meanwhile, Shakir Habib Gandhi, who had scored an unbeaten 168 in the quarter-final, continued his form with a 119 from 171 balls. 

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Vivek Singh and Arindam Ghosh are at the crease for Bhowanipur at the moment after the end of Day 1. Durgesh Kumar Dubey and Arun Chaprana picked up two wickets each for Kalighat.

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.

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.

Read Also | Where Are They Now: Last Time Bengal Men's Cricket Team Won A Trophy

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

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.

2024-25 opening combinations 

• Ankit Chatterjee & Sudip Chatterjee (Match 6)
• Ankit Chatterjee & Writtick Chatterjee (Match 5)
• Shuvam Dey & Sudip Chatterjee (Matches 2, 3, 4)
• Sudip Chatterjee & Abhimanyu Easwaran (Match 1)

2023-24 opening combinations

• Sourav Paul & Shreyansh Ghosh (Matches 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Abhimanyu Easwaran & Ranjot Khaira (Match 6)
• Habib Gandhi & Abhimanyu Easwaran (Match 7)

2022-23 opening combinations

• Abhishek Das & Koushik Ghosh (Matches 1, 2, 5)
• Koushik Ghosh & Abhimanyu Easwaran (Match 3)
• Sayan Shekhar Mondal & Abhimanyu Easwaran (Match 4)
• Karan Lal & Abhimanyu Easwaran (Matches 6, 7, 9)
• Kazi Junaid Saifi & Abhimanyu Easwaran (Match 8)
• Sumanta Gupta & Abhimanyu Easwaran (Match 10)

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.

Read Also | Bengal Cricket: 7 U-19 cricketers from Bengal who can play for India in future

#2 | 22 debutants in three seasons 

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

Sumanta Gupta, Geet Puri, Ankit Mishra, Akash Ghatak, Ravikant Singh, Karan Lal, Suman Das, Habib Gandhi, Ranjot Khaira, Sourav Paul, Shreyansh Ghosh, Mohammed Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Rohit Kumar, Ankit Chatterjee, Sumit Mohanta, Vishal Bhati, Rishav Vivek, Avilin Ghosh, Shuvam Dey, Suvankar Bal, Subham Chatterjee.

#3 | 8 debutants played only one game in the last three seasons

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 - 

Suman Das, Ravikant Singh, Habib Gandhi, Rishav Vivek, Vishal Bhati, Sumit Mohanta, Suvankar Bal, Subham Chatterjee.

Only pace bowler Rishav Vivek was injured after his first match and the rest of the players did not get a game after their first match.

Read Also | Bengal Women's Cricket Exclusive: Two out of two finals, record chase against Haryana, Jhulan Goswami, WPL and more

#4 | 17 players played two or fewer matches since the 2022-23 season

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 staggering 17 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

Suman Das (1), Ravikant Singh (1), Habib Gandhi (1), Rishav Vivek (1), Vishal Bhati (1), Sumit Mohanta (1), Suvankar Bal (1), Subham Chatterjee (1), Kazi Saifi (1), Aamir Gani (1), Pritam Chakraborty (2), Geet Puri (2), Ranjot Khaira (2), Avilin Ghosh (2), Rohit Kumar (2), Ankit Chatterjee (2), Sumanta Gupta (2)

#5 | Anustup, Gharami, Easwaran and who?

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 

1. Sudip Chatterjee - 441 at 55.12
2. Sudip Gharami - 331 at 41.37
3. Anustup Majumdar - 228 at 28.50 

2023-24 

1. Anustup Majumdar 510 at 63.75
2. Abishek Porel 377 at 41.88
3. Abhimanyu Easwaran 337 at 168.50

2022-23 

1. Anustup Majumdar 867 at 61.92
2. Sudip Gharami 803 at 50.18
3. Abhimanyu Easwaran 798 at 66.50

#6 | Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal - The Lone Warrior

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. 

Read Also | Exclusive Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal: "Jumping out" from tough times to become Bengal's star of the season

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

1. Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 6 matches 29 wickets
2. Mohammed Kaif 5 matches 17 wicktes 

2023-24

1. Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 6 matches 31 wickets
2. Mohammed Kaif 6 matches 17 wickets

What future holds for Bengal Ranji Team?

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.

Hello and welcome to Sportz Point's LIVE coverage of Bengal vs Haryana match in Ranji Trophy 2024-25. The match will be played at Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani.

This is Koushik Biswas, who will be bringing you all the LIVE updates of the match as Bengal look to qualify for the knockouts of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25.

Read Also | Ranji Trophy 2024-25 Matchday Six LIVE Updates of 16 matches: Rohit, Jasiwal to play for Mumbai, Pant to star for Delhi

Meantime, Haryana with domestic stars like Anshul Kamboj will be looking to beat Bengal at the their own turf too.

This is a must win match for Bengal to stay within the reach of the next round. So, stay updated with the updates of the match on our LIVE Blog. 

Do not forget to refresh the page time-to-time to get the latest updates.