"I am happy playing for Railways," says Bengal's own son Arindam Ghosh who is still scoring tons for Railways at 35

The year 2008, a young right-handed batter from Barasat burst into the scene of Bengal cricket from club cricket. 14 years later the batter is still scoring runs in the first-class arena, not for Bengal though. Railway's Arindam Ghosh opens up on his future, Railways, Bengal cricket and his zeal to challenge the young teammates in an exclusive interview with Sportz Point.

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A 105 & 0 against Karnataka and 100 against Puducherry in the ongoing Ranji Trophy means that at 35 he still got the hunger for runs. So, will a team like Bengal with a turmoil middle-order call his own son back? Arindam Ghosh answered promptly with a simple "No". "At this age, I do not think Bengal would want me back. If they wanted me back they would have called me back earlier," Arindam added.

At his age, many players across the domestic circuit find it hard to maintain their position in the team. Arindam is still turning up for Railways and ready to dig deep for the team. "Look, I always try to contribute to the teams I play. I do not want to be a burden to the team. People should not say that he is occupying a younger player's place in the team. That's not me. "

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"I know after 30-32 BCCI now-a-days don't consider you for the selection. Even last time they did not consider Anustup (Majumder) after a brilliant season. So, I do not think scoring only a 100 will take you close to the selection. You have to do special things to get selected now," Arindam sounded hungry for more runs.

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Railways this season have the services of Amit Mishra and Karn Sharma as well. Along with them, he is one of the seniors who has tons of experience at the first-class level. When asked about the leadership skills Arindam said, "Naturally I do not try to get involved in the decisions, but I always try to help out younger players in the team. They are very new to the domestic level and I try to make it easier for them in the team with my experience. I think this is my responsibility as a senior cricketer in the team."

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So what's the future hold for Arindam Ghosh at 35? "I am not sure what the future holds for me. I think I still have two-three years of cricket left in me. As of now, I am enjoying scoring runs for Railways and am very much satisfied with my own performances. Rest will be thought afterwards," Arindam answered.

Though BCCI and many Cricket Boards in India now don't give that attention to cricketers after 30, Arindam thinks this is a misconception that is growing in India. "For me, age is just a number. If you are still fit they should consider you for the selections. If we at 35, passing the 2K test and Yo-Yo Test, then what's holding them for not considering us after performing well?," Arindam raised a question who still passes every test that BCCI has set up as standard.

"I challenge the younger ones of my team in any fitness challenge. I work hard on my fitness to keep myself going," the middle-order batter added.

So, does Arindam Ghosh miss playing for Bengal? "Actually not. I am happy playing for Railways. They have done a lot of things for me as a cricketer. Yes, it would have been great if I could make all of those runs Bengal, but it does not matter to me anymore," Ghosh answered.

Arindam till now has scored 3620 runs in 63 first-class matches with an average of 38.9. For a brief period, he was also a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team as well in the IPL.