Richer by his English experience, Bengal pacer Ranadeb Bose has started working in right earnest to keep the momentum going. Bose made optimum use of the limited chances he got during the past one-and-a-half months. Although he failed to make it to the Test playing eleven, his five-wicket haul in the first innings of a practice game against Sri Lanka A at Leicester definitely impressed the Indian think-tankAfter reaching the city yesterday, Bose was seen at the pre-season conditioning camp for Bengal at the Pankaj Gupta indoor training facility, rubbing shoulders with his state teammates. Bose also had a long chat with the newly-appointed Bengal coach B Arun.About his effort at Leicester, Bose said: “When you bowl to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid andYuvraj Singh at nets, you will definitely improve. The seniors were a constant source of inspiration for me. They helped me a lot and even the inputs from bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad helped me immensely.”Bose was highly impressive in his second spell — putting credence to the theory that he bowls better with the old ball. “My focus there was on bowling in the right areas, and pitching the ball in the right length. And in England, the conditions obviously help you a bit. I just did my job,” he said. “One needs greater discipline at the international level. In domestic cricket you can afford to bowl a few bad balls. Here every bad ball goes for a boundary. I learnt a lot during the whole tour.”Dismissing doubts over his pace, Bose said: “Prasad said it’s not a problem. The seniors were really encouraging and asked me to concentrate on my strengths. As a player, you have to know your limitations and work accordingly.”On his future course of action the pacer said: “I am happy with my performance there. But to stay there and to achieve greater goals, I need to perform consistently. If I am doing my job well, I will surely get a look in. I will try to give my best and continue to work hard on the domestic circuit.”With Australia and Pakistan scheduled to tour India this year, an India cap for the hard-working 28-year-old may not be a distant dream. Bose was ecstatic being part of a Test-series winning squad at the home of cricket after a long gap of 21 years. “Taking the victory lap at Oval was something different. I will always cherish that moment,” he said.
