Exclusive Bengal Ranji Trophy Squad: A new opener to make his debut: Who are the options?

One of best teams in red ball cricket in the last few seasons in India, Bengal will name their squad first for the upcoming Ranji trophy on Friday. Without Mukesh Kumar, Akashdeep, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Shahbaz Ahmed, they will have to dig deep to fill the places for the upcoming season.

Without opener Abhimanyu Eswaran, Bengal have struggled to find a partner for Sudip Gharami in the last two seasons. With nearly five openers tried and tested, the management and selection committee are now ready to look for a new face, who has done it over and over in the local club Cricket.

In that sense, Kalighat's Shreyansh Ghosh and Town Club's Ranjot Singh Khaira, pick themselves as the favourites in the race. Obviously batters like Kaushik Ghosh, who was there in the squad last time, will be there in the race as well.

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Both Shreyansh and Ranjot have been in solid form in recent Club matches for their team in the CAB first-division league. Ranjot, who has already played in the white wall format for Bengal, might have a nod ahead of Shreyansh, just because he has the experience of playing at that level.

But Shreyansh's skill to play long innings and fight it out when gets tough can take him closer to that Bengal cap. Subham Chatterjee will be another name that might be considered in the middle order as well.

Meanwhile, Sudip Gharami, Anustup Majumdar, Manoj Tiwary and Abishek Porel will be a key factor for Bengal in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.

In the bowling lineup, the absence of Mukesh Kumar and Akashdeep can surely give solid chances to some young faces to show their skill and talent. Debopratim Halder, Mohammad Kaif, Suman Das, Geet Puri, Soummyadip Mondal, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal and Rohit Kumar can be the choices surely.

Both Jaiswal, Mandal and Rohit have been in solid form along with Debopratim who is the youngest of the lot while Kaif, Suman Das and Puri have already featured for Bengal in white-ball format.

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Another slot that Bengal need to feel is the bowling all-rounder's spot, in the absence of Shahbaz Ahmed. The spinner has done a quite remarkable job for the Bengal team with the bat and ball. Now him being out of the selection with an injury, Bengal have to find a solid all-rounder to fill up that place.

Honestly speaking, Shahbaaz might be irreplaceable in the team and Bengal might have to find a bowling all-rounder to fill that gap. Kaushik Maity and Writtick Chatterjee can be the option, only if Chatterjee is ready to bowl.

With Shahbaz not being there, Pradipta Paramanik might have a new partner in Ankit Mishra who was there in the squad when Bengal played the final, last time.

If Bengal is looking for a seam bowling all-rounder in the Ranji Trophy squad, Sayan Shekhar Mondal, Ayan Bhattacharjee, Shubham Sarkar, Akash Ghatak, Poonish Mehta and Arka Sarkar can be the options for them.

Although it's not quite sure who's the upper hand in that battle, but Bengal have to have someone there in the team.

Bengal's fixture for Ranji Trophy 2023-24

1. Andhra vs Bengal | 5th January, 2024

2. UP vs Bengal | 12th January, 2024

3. Bengal vs Chattisgarh | 19th January, 2024

4. Assam vs Bengal | 26th January, 2024

5. Bengal vs Mumbai | 2nd February, 2024

6. Kerala vs Bengal | 9th February, 2024

7. Bengal vs Bihar | 16th February, 2024