Bengal coach Sairaj Bahutule in conversation with captain Manoj Tiwary. Image Source: CAB[/caption]Internet Desk: It will be a milestone match for Bengal when they take on Baroda in a Ranji Trophy Group A clash at Chowdhury Bansi Lal Stadium in Lalhi on Monday. The match will mark Bengal’s 400th first class game.
Captain Manoj Tiwary and his team will look to shrug off the disappointment of Tamil Nadu match as they meet a Baroda team without Yusuf Pathan. Talking about the match against Baroda, Manoj said, “We are confident of doing well as a team. We have been playing well so far and look to continue doing that. The focus will be to keep the mind set right for the next four days, as we cannot be complacent about our opponents.”
Bengal may inclined to go in with a four prong pace attack keeping in mind the strip at Lalhi which has a history of favoring the fast bowlers. Spinner Aamir Gani may have to make way for Mukesh Kumar. Speaking on his fast bowlers, Manoj said, “All our fast bowlers are in good form. Mukesh Kumar did well last season in his debut match here against Haryana. He got the prized wicket of Virender Sehwag. We won the match in spite of losing the toss. Dinda has been in superb form along with rookies Amit Kuila and Sayan Ghosh. We hope to exploit the conditions well.”
Bengal will be relieved to see key batsman Sudip Chatterjee recovering from his hamstring injury that he sustained in the match while batting against Tamil Nadu in the last match. The left hander did bat for a long time at the nets today and looked in no concern.
Baroda on the other hand have some experienced cricketers like Irfan Pathan, Deepak Hooda. India all rounder Yusuf Pathan though has pulled himself out of the tie citing family reasons. It will no doubt be a huge blow to Baroda as he has been a premier all rounder for them. Captain Irfan Pathan will look to see a turnaround from his boys starting with the match against Bengal tomorrow. Speaking to xtratime.in , Irfan said, "Bengal is playing well and we aren't. So hopefully we are looking to change things around. As a team it's about seeing the result to get self belief in the team and each member. Boys are working hard to get it. Hopefully this is the game. We have quite a few new faces in the team. That's always challenging. But that's the challenge we play cricket for."
Bengal coach Sairaj Bahutule feels the wicket at Lahli will favour the pace bowlers. According to Bahutule, "It is obviously going to be a green top. So we will play three pacers for sure. Sayan Sekhar Mondal will come in as the fourth pacer. But we have to make sure that the batting strength is not compromised."
Manoj Tiwary also voiced a similar opinion. “If we want to get full points then we have to rely on our fast bowlers. We have discussed in the team meetings about bowling on a particular line and length. Our bowlers have been analyzing the video of each of the Baroda batsmen. They have nothing to lose and will try and come hard at us. We have to be ready to take on the challenge.”
Baroda is languishing at the bottom of the points table in Group A with only 3 points from 5 matches. In the last match against Railways, they were comprehensively outplayed by 7 wickets at the hands of Railways at the VCA stadium in Nagpur.
Bengal on the other hand will go into the match after losing crucial points against Tamil Nadu. Manoj Tiwary and his team had to be satisfied with 1 point after conceding the first innings lead. Bengal is now at fifth position in the table with 16 points from 4 matches.
The wicket at Lahli has produced results in all the matches played at the venue. All the matches played at the ground were low scoring affairs with Priyank Panchal scoring the only century for Gujarat in the last match against Railways.
Mumbai heads the points table with 25 points from 5 matches followed by Tamil Nadu (20), Gujarat (18) and Punjab (16).
Bengal Probable First XI - 1) Abhimany Eashwaran , 2) Sayan Sekhar Mondal , 3) Sudip Chatterjee , 4) Manoj Tiwary , 5) Agniv Pan , 6) Shreevats Ghoswami , 7) Pragyan Ojha , 8)Ashoke Dinda , 9) Amit Kuila , 10) Sayan Ghosh , 11) Mukesh Kumar .
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