/sportzpoint/media_files/085ef551-6ade-43ad-8f9a-2f7420f766b9.jpg)
Bengal men's cricket team last won a trophy in 2012, when they lifted the Vijay Hazare Trophy, beating the mighty Mumbai team at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi. 13 years have passed since then and the Bengal men's cricket team's dream for another trophy got prolonged every season.
Today, in this exclusive article on Bengal cricket, we will check out where those members of that Champion team are now.
Let me inform you first, despite being the Champions only twice in the Ranji Trophy and once in Vijay Hazare Trophy, Bengal have been one of the strongest teams in Indian domestic circuit for years. The team from Eastern India have been runners-up in Ranji Trophy for a record 13 times.
Meantime, in Vijay Hazare Trophy, they finished second 4 times.
Without further delay, let's get to know the "playing eleven" from that Champion Bengal team.
Bengal Men's Cricket team's journey in the 2011-12 Vijay Hazare Season
Bengal won four out of four games in the inter-zone group matches and finished as the zone champions with 19 points to reach the knockouts. Assam with 12 points qualified alongside them from the east zone.
In the first quarter-final, Bengal defeated a strong Madhya Pradesh by 15 runs to reach the semi-finals. Ashok Dinda took 5/54 and was named the player of the match. Anustup Majumdar scored 55 to help Bengal score 230 in the first inning.
In the semi-final, Wriddhiman Saha was the hero for Bengal as his unbeaten 53 from 71 balls helped them chase Punjab's 206-run target. Sourav Sarkar and Arnab Nandi were the pick of the bowlers for Bengal with two wickets a piece. Mohammed Shami added a valuable 22 from 7 balls at the back of the innings for Bengal to get them over the line.
The Mega Final: Mumbai vs Bengal
The mega final saw literally a one-man show from current Bengal head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla. The all-rounder first took 4 wickets while giving away only 38 runs in the first inning against a star-studded batting lineup comprising Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Nayar and Aditya Tare.
Mohammed Shami also picked up two wickets in the first inning. While chasing Mumbai's 249, Bengal lost Subhomoy Das in the first over. Mumbai captain Ajit Ajarkar trapped him in front of the wicket.
Shreevats Goswami (42 from 73) and Sourav Ganguly (38 from 53) tried to put a partnership but a few quick wickets after the departure of Ganguly pushed Bengal to trouble at 145/4 in 32.2 overs.
But, then it was the partnership between Anustup Majumdar (50* from 45 balls) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (106* from 90 balls) that helped Bengal chase down the total with 6 wickets in hands and 23 balls remaining.
Laxmi Ratan Shukla was the player of the final while Wriddhiman Saha was the top scorer of the tournament with 395 runs at an average of 98.75.
Where are those Champion players now?
Shreevats Goswami (211 runs in VHT 2011-12)
One of the most successful white-ball openers for Bengal, Shreevats Goswami was the first-ever "Emerging Player of the IPL". His white ball dominance and stroke-making ability helped him play 31 matches in the IPL.
Goswami recently announced his retirement and played in the Legends Cricket League and Big Cricket League. He is currently doing commentary for various platforms.
Subhomoy Das
The flamboyant opener, who featured in the Indian Cricket League, is currently a coach and a selector. He was the Chief Selector of Bengal's Men's Cricket team earlier and was appointed as the head coach of the Adamas Howrah Warriors in the Bengal Pro T20 League too.
Sourav Ganguly (Captain)
Probably one of the greatest Indian captains, Sourav Ganguly retired from all forms of cricket in 2012. Later, he joined the Cricket Association of Bengal as the President. He then went on to head the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well.
Ganguly is currently associated with many associations and is the Director of Cricket at JSW Sports. Along with that, Ganguly also did commentary in between these years which fans loved as well.
Laxmi Ratan Shukla (291 runs and 11 wickets)
Laxmi Ratan Shukla is regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders of Bengal cricket. His ability to turn up in the most demanding situations for his team is a skill Bengal is still trying to replace.
Shukla won the Indian Premier League with Kolkata Knight Riders. Then he served as the Minister of State for Youth Services and Sports, Government of West Bengal and is currently now the head coach of the Bengal Men's Cricket Team.
Wriddhiman Saha (395 runs)
Saha is regarded as one of the finest keepers of Indian Cricket. After his domestic success, went on to play for India in 40 test matches. He also went on to become the first player to score a ton in an IPL final.
Wriddhiman has announced his international retirement and his final match would be the Bengal vs Punjab match in Ranji Trophy 2024-25 in Kolkata starting from 30th January.
Anustup Majumdar (277 runs)
Known as the crisis man of Bengal cricket, Majumdar was one of the highest run-getters for Bengal in that tournament. Anustup scored 1 century and 1 half-century, an important one in the final.
Majumdar is currently the captain of the Bengal Ranji team.
Debabrata Das
Though Das could only score 85 runs including one fifty in the tournament, he went on to become one of the greatest strikers of the ball in Bengal cricket history. I hope you still remember the scene when Gautam Gambhir gave away his player of the match in IPL 2012 to a young player. It was Debabrata Das.
Das is currently a selector under the Cricket Association of Bengal.
Read Also | Durgapur Cricket Club collaborates with SPORTIQO to elevate training: Wriddhiman Saha on the board
Arnab Nandi (6 wickets at 4.66 economy)
Arnab Nandi is one of the most successful club cricketers in Bengal cricket. He was pivotal with his off-spin bowling and lower-order batting in both the finals Bengal played in recent years.
Though Nandi could not take Bengal over the line in the 2023 Ranji Trophy final, he was excellent for Sourav Ganguly's team in 2012. Nandi is still playing club cricket in Kolkata. This season he is leading the Kidderpore Sporting Club.
Mohammed Shami (11 wickets)
This man needs no introduction now. Shami was an integral part of that champion Bengal team. The fast bowler took 11 wickets at 24.27 average in that tournament.
He was Bengal's highest wicket-taker alongside Shukla in the tournament. One year later, Shami made his international debut and as they say, the rest is history. He is India's highest wicket-taker in World Cup history.
Till now Shami has accumulated 448 international wickets so far in his career.
Iresh Saxena (8 wickets)
The former left-arm spinner took 8 wickets in that tournament and alongside Nandi, was Bengal's premier spinning option.
Saxena was also part of the KKR team in 2012 which won the Indian Premier League. Saxena currently lives in Greater London, England.
Sourav Sarkar
The tall medium pacer played in the final in place of Ashok Dinda and got the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav in the final.
In 2009, he played two matches for Kolkata Knight Riders. Sarkar played in 31 first-class matches and took 111 wickets as well.
He is currently a coach of the Bengal U-16 team.
Players who did not play in the final but were in the squad
Arindam Ghosh
A stalwart of Bengal cricket, who flourished for the Indian Railways team, Arindam Ghosh is still playing at the Club Level in Kolkata. Ghosh played 2 games for KKR in IPL 2009 and played 68 first-class games for Bengal and Railways.
Jayojit Basu
Another top-order batter who did not take part in the final for Bengal. Jayojit Basu is one of the most successful batters in Kolkata Club Cricket's history. Despite scoring a lot of runs for clubs like Mohun Bagan, he could only play in 3 first-class and 8 List-A games for Bengal.
Basu is still playing at the club level in Kolkata and also takes part in Minor County Leagues in England.
Saurasish Lahiri
Saurasish Lahiri is one of the most successful spinners for Bengal in First-Class cricket. The spinner played in 100 first-class games for Bengal and took 256 wickets.
Lahiri retired in 2016 and is currently the head coach of the Bengal U-19 Men's Cricket team.
Sanjib Sanyal
If it was not for Laxmi Ratan Shukla's presence in the team, Sanyal could have become a great name in Bengal cricket as well. The pace-bowling all-rounder played in 47 First-Class and List-A games for Bengal and Railways.
Currently, he is an assistant coach of the Bengal U-19 Men's Cricket Team.
Ashok Dinda (8 wickets)
One of the greatest fast bowlers to play for Bengal, Ashok Dinda could only play 4 games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal in 2012.
However, Dinda had managed to make an impact even in those 4 games for Bengal. He took 8 wickets including a five-wicket haul. He also had an outstanding economy rate of 4.90 in the tournament.
Dinda went on to take 420 first-class wickets and took 151 List-A and 151 T20 Wickets as well. Dina played in 13 ODIs and 9 T20Is for India. Post his retirement Dinda became a MLA from Moyna from BJP. He is currently one of the coaches of CAB's project Vision 2028.