Shukla retained as captain for knock-out phase

The zonal snub notwithstanding,the Bengal selectors have kept faith in Laxmi Ratan Shukla retaining him as the captain of the Bengal team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy knock-out phase. A 14-member team sans Sourav Ganguly was picked today that will play their first match on March 4. Ganguly,who played a crucial role in Bengal’s success at the East Zone qualifiers,has already informed the CAB about his unavailability for the knock-out phase.

“It doesn’t matter who leads the team. I have no problems playing under Manoj (Tiwary) in the Deodhar Trophy. Here,I am the captain and Manoj will play under me…it’s the teamwork that matters,” Shulka said.

The team will leave for Agartala on March 2.

Team: Laxmi Ratan Shukla (captain),Wriddhiman Saha,Arindam Ghosh,Dibyendu Chakraborty,Debabrata Das,Manoj Tiwary,Iresh Saxena,Ranadeb Bose,Saurav Sarkar,Ashok Dinda,Ritam Kundu,Sreevats Goswami,Aveek Chowdhury,Abhishek Banerjee