VVS Laxman giving batting tips to Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary. Image Source: XtraTime[/caption]Internet Desk: Bengal cricketers got valuable tips from its batting consultant VVS Laxman ahead of its crucial Ranji Trophy Group A tie against Mumbai at the Civil Lines Ground in Nagpur. The former cricketer is in Nagpur for the last couple of days trying to get back the confidence of the young batsman. It was a great boost for young Bengal cricketers like Abhimanyu Easwaran, Agniv Pan and Pankaj Shaw, who are short of confidence following their poor outing in the last couple of matches. The stylish batsman who also happens to be the batting consultant of Bengal was summoned by Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly to share his inputs to the youngsters. The former India batsman is not on the television roster for the Mohali test match.
Talking about the match tomorrow, Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary said to xtratime.in, “It is not a do or die game for us as it has been projected. We still three games left including the match against Mumbai. It is just another game against a good opponent .We had a good couple of days practice.”
Bengal will go into the match following their disappointing results against Tamil Nadu and Baroda. The team led by Manoj Tiwary finds themselves in a precarious situation with only 16 points from 5 matches. They will have to play really well to disturb the rhythm of Mumbai who are at present topping the group with 25 points from 6 matches.
Apart from the two days session with Laxman, Bengal got another boost as Mumbai opener Akhil Herwadkar was ruled out due to a foot injury. The left-hander has been consistent for Mumbai this season, scoring two centuries and aggregating 447 runs in six matches.
"Akhil has a foot injury and Kaustubh Pawar has replaced him," said Mumbai Coach Chandrakant Pandit.
Middle order batsman Armaan Jaffer has been called in as a replacement for seamer Balwinder Sandhu.
“We are only focused on our strengths. We do not want to think who will play against us. We have a plan and strategy. All we need to do is execute them, ” said Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary to xtratime.in
Bengal looks to make a couple of changes with Abhishek Raman all set to make his debut tomorrow. The talented batsman, who excelled with the bat in CK Nayudu trophy will open the innings with Abhimanyu Easwaran. In that case the axe will probably fall on Pankaj Shaw. Sayan Sekhar Mondal is expected to play lower down the order to give the batting more muscle.
Meanwhile, the Nagpur wicket which has a tinge of green might prompt the Bengal team management to go in with three seamers - Ashoke Dinda, Amit Kuila and Mukesh Kumar. Sayan will come in as the fourth pacer.
According to Manoj, “The wicket looks to favour the fast bowlers. It has a greenish look so whoever wins toss will look to bowl first as the conditions will help the fast bowlers initially.”
The focus today at Bengal practice was the presence of Laxman. The Hyderabadi batsman was seen taking initiative to eliminate the mistakes in the young batsmen. According to official sources, Laxman saw the video footage of all the players and then sat with them as a team and also individually. In these meetings he talked about how to approach the game, session by session and also hold together individual innings.
“It’s very nice of him to come and help the young batsmen with their flaws in technique. It always helps, when you have cricketers like Sourav and Laxman sharing their ideas and experiences. I think the boys will be immensely benefitted with the two sessions with him.”
Bengal will take confidence from their recent meeting against Mumbai in KSCA tournament where they got the better their opponents.
Manoj will draw inspiration from Flying Sikh Milkha Singh whom he met at the team hotel during breakfast yesterday. He changed his whatsapp DP and also tweeted about the interaction.
Met Milkha Singh ji. Such an inspirational figure. Talked about sports with so much enthusiasm. It was really my honour to meet you, Sir. pic.twitter.com/neO2cWWKgJ
— Manoj Tiwary (@tiwarymanoj) November 28, 2016
“He is such an inspiration person. It was a surprise meeting as we didn’t knew he was staying in the same hotel. I was speechless on meeting him first. I introduced myself and told him about playing for India. He wished me luck and gave me courage to fight back into the Indian team.”
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