Ranji Trophy 2022-23: Kazi-Abhimanyu to open, Sumanta Gupta might debut for Bengal against Jharkhand in Quarter-final

Bengal will play their quarter-final match of Ranji Trophy 2022-23 against Jharkhand at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The home team topped the Elite Group-A to qualify for the knockouts and will be very happy to have a full-strength team ahead of their most-important match of this season till now.

Captain Manoj Tiwray will be delighted to see the pace bowling trio of Ishan-Mukesh-Akashdeep back in the team as Mukesh Kumar is set to join the team from India vs New Zealand T20I series. Meanwhile, all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed will also be available for the match too.

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The concern for the Bengal team has been the opening pair. Till now, they have tried as many as four opening pairs in Ranji Trophy 2022-23. Unfortunately, none of them has been successful. Abhimanyu Easwaran has piled runs for the team, but without the support from the other end.

For that, Bengal has roped in young left-hander Kazi Junaid Saifi, who has scored 394 runs in 4 matches in the Col. C.K. Nayudu trophy till now. Kazi will open along with Abhimanyu as per the information now. On the other hand Sumanta Gupta, a middle-order batter can make his first-class debut against Jharkhand tomorrow.

Sumanta has been with the team since the start of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 and as per reports, he can be added in the middle order to provide more stability in the batting lineup. In that case, it will be interesting to see what the playing eleven looks like for Bengal. Suvankar Bal might be the one to sit on the bench and Bengal might opt to go with four bowlers.

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Anustup Majumdar's finger injury seemed to be okay and he will be a vital man in the middle order. The crisis man of Bengal always performed well under pressure for Bengal and the quarter-final is a stage he loves to bat long for the team.

On the other hand, Jharkhand will have to be on top of their game to put Bengal under pressure at their home. They won 3 games while losing 2 out of seven games in Elite Group-C.

The match starts at 9 am and will be live-streamed on Star Sports and Hotstar.