Bengal Pitches It Up

STATISTICS tell much of the story. Experienced Rohan Gavaskar (362 runs) and right-arm off-spinner Sourasish Lahiri (25 wickets) lead the way with their performances but the backup has been solid. Sourav Ganguly began the opener against Maharashtra with 159 and a five-wicket haul; after that, Arindam Das and Subhomoy Das, allrounder Manoj Tewari, new ball quickie Shib Shankar Paul and even rookie speedster Ashoke Dinda put in their bit.

‘‘We analysed the last two seasons and discovered that instead of a chop-and-change policy and innovations, we should make seniors take responsibility’’, says chief selector Pranab Roy. ‘‘That has worked for us. The same guys we would have wanted out after last season are performing in every other innings.’’

PREPARATION ‘‘After a long time, Bengal players could be seen preparing themselves in advance,” observed Sambaran Banerjee, former national selector. ‘‘It’s not just about training, it’s about figuring out the Elite group format. They weren’t too aware last year how to pace the approach in the round-robin phase. Paras Mhambrey has helped the players plan their route well. They knew exactly what was expected of them, which is helping them to carry out the responsibilities better this season.”

PARAS-DEEP COMBO: ‘‘This is the first time we have a coach who’s been through the grind of the NCA’’, says Roy. ‘‘Not only can he apply a methodical approach, Paras has been able to gel well with all the players. Much of the success is because Paras is a relatively young coach, and very different to his predecessor (Karsan Ghavri).’’

And skipper Dasgupta has been impressive, particularly in drawing out good performances from youngsters Ashoke Dinda and Manoj Tewari.

THE BOWLING: Sourashish Lahiri’s performance has been the overriding factor in the first four matches with figures of 7/93 against Maharashtra, 5/57 against Delhi and 6/111 facing Karnataka. He’s taken the huge, crucial role once playedby left-arm offie Utpal Chatterjee who retired a couple of years back.

It’s also worth taking note of the Ranadeb Bose-SS Paul opening pace combo. The pair that was blunt last season, doing little with the new ball, is much more potent this year, particularly Paul, who is consistently making inroads early on.

SOURAV GANGULY: He’s played key roles in Bengal’s campaign over the past two seasons. Last time, Ganguly scored a match-saving century at a crucial juncture in Bengal’s relegation-saving match against lowly Madhya Pradesh. This time round, many believe that it was his performance in the opener at Pune that set the tempo for the players. Says Banerjee: “Once Sourav took five wickets and scored that century, it had a major effect on the players. They took the cue from the there and drew confidence out of that exemplary performance to start contributing themselves as well.”