Time to prime the pump

The preparatory phase began with the CAB unceremoniously dumping local coach Utpal Chatterjee in favour of a more celebrated name — Roger Binny — who appears to be taking his own sweet time to get ‘acclimatized’ to the Maidan way of life.

The next spectacle was the forced patch-up between the team’s only reliable pacers Ranadeb Bose and Ashoke Dinda,which can’t be presumed complete till the two quicks produce results in the coming days.

After that came a series of more problems. It started with the Bengal team’s disastrous campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 meet in Dhanbad. Bengal lost thrice in three days. What was worse was that the debacle sparked off a collision between the think-tank and some senior players. It’s no coincidence that the senior guys at the receiving end of things were the ICL rebels.

This state of affairs was followed by the confusion and bad blood surrounding the reappointment of the mercurial Laxmi Ratan Shukla as skipper. It needed CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya’s intervention to avoid selectors exchanging blows at a heated selection meeting at the BC Roy Club House office.

When the dust had settled,the task was cut out for Bengal — the captain is in the dock for two matches,and no one in the team can take his place for granted.

So,when Shukla & Co take on a contrastingly young Maharashtra side in their backyard,they know that anything short of a win there would be seen as a stuttering start for Roger Binny’s boys.

It won’t help matters that Binny is unlikely to make himself physically available for the Ranji opener — he lost his mother just days back.

But then,Bengal’s math for the season clearly points to the fact that they make full use of the soft fixtures.

The Bengal boys will take on Baroda,Saurashtra and Delhi at home,and they can’t take any of them for granted. Their away games are against Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. It only makes sense for them to aim high against a relatively less threatening opponent like Maharashtra.

No wonder,the think-tank has already finalised the playing XI for the four-dayer that begins tomorrow,instead of leaving it to last-minute assessment of the Pune wicket. In comes swashbuckling batsman Abhishek Jhunjhunwala in place of the more dependable but less adventurous Dibyendu Chakraborty. And they will play two pacers,Bose and Dinda,and two spinners,Sourasish Lahiri and Shib Sagar Singh.

Against a bowling attack that doesn’t boast of big names but comes with promise,the Bengal think-tank has laid its cards down — it will play seven batsmen and four bowlers,having skipper Shukla as the back-up pace option.

The experienced Arindam Das,who made a return to the team after the Dhanbad drubbing,will open the batting with the ever-reliable Deep Dasgupta. At No 3 is Bengal’s brightest boy in recent years,stumper Wriddhiman Saha. The side’s most consistent batsman of late,Manoj Tiwary,will bat next,followed by Rohan Gavaskar,Jhunjhunwala and Shukla.

Given that the trio of Tiwary,Saha and Dinda will be on duty for Board President’s XI against Sri Lanka during Bengal’s second Ranji match (against Baroda,at home),it’s imperative that Binny’s boys make the most of the Pune game.

Bengal’s likely XI: Deep Dasgupta & Arindam Das (openers),Wriddhiman Saha (wk),Manoj Tiwary,Rohan Gavaskar,Abhishek Jhunjhunwala,Laxmi Ratan Shukla,Sourasish Lahiri,Shib Sagar Singh,Ashoke Dinda,Ranadeb Bose.