Bengal will want a giant win over Punjab in its final Elite Group-C match, beginning on the Eden Gardens right here on Thursday, and a miracle to attain the Ranji Trophy knockout stage.
Positioned fourth with 14 factors from six matches, Bengal has to regroup after its outright loss to Haryana at Kalyani. It has to beat Punjab with a bonus level and hope that Kerala (21) and Karnataka (19) don’t get a single level of their respective matches in opposition to bottom-placed Bihar and table-topper Haryana respectively so as to qualify.
If the troublesome situation doesn’t materialise in favour of the Anustup Majumdar-led aspect, then the Punjab match would be the swansong for worldwide wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha.
His teammates would do properly to push for a win, which could increase their likelihood to qualify or present a becoming tribute to Saha.
Bengal, already lacking the companies of Abhimanyu Easwaran, Akash Deep and Shahbaz Ahmed as a consequence of health points and Mohammed Shami as a consequence of nationwide responsibility, might must take care of the absence of seamer Mukesh Kumar, who’s nursing a shoulder difficulty. In Mukesh’s absence, Suraj Jaiswal will lead the assault.
Sudip Chatterjee will return to affix younger opener Ankit Chatterjee, whereas a well-known center order will share the accountability in batting. Bengal might check out a few uncapped gamers.
Punjab, which can miss final match’s centurion Shubman Gill and internationals Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh, will look to beat its defeat to Karnataka and finish the season properly.
At present, Punjab, which has depended totally on Anmolpreet Singh and Jaskaranvir Singh in batting and Gurnoor Brar and Mayank Markande in bowling, is slotted seventh with 11 factors.
With a tinge of inexperienced, the Eden observe might present preliminary help to the seamers earlier than residing as much as its fame.
Printed – January 29, 2025 06:44 PM is
